Giving Syrup away

[Haynes Forest Products]

Why do you give syrup away? Like ericjeeper I give out small bottles as a calling card to customers that I think would enjoy it. I winterize sprinklers in the fall and going to 300 houses I forget who I gave two but rest assured they will remind me.

[ericjeeper]

I would rather just give it away. As opposed to trying to price it high enough to recoup my labor cost. There are no producers close enough to me to feel the sting of me giving away 12 ounce jars of syrup anyhow..Besides most of the people I give it to have never bought it from the store until.... After they have tasted my syrup. So really I am doing the industry a favor at my expense.
Our neighbors down in Florida, had never tasted it til I gave them a bottle. Now that is all they buy.. I did take them a quart back in December when I went down to hog hunt..Also took them some venison breakfast sausage too.. They love it.. But they won't find it in the store. LOL

[maplehound]

I too would rather give it away than sell it. However I need to sell as much as I can to recoup my cost. I have made it a regular thing to give each family member some syrup. This was no problem when I was a bacholer but now I have a wife and she gives some to all her family ( very large family ) and I told my new son that he can give some away to his friends and foster families as long as he helps make it. Also I have always tried to bottle up at least 2 gallons in 1/2 pint bottles to give to our local food pantry. I believe last year I gave away at least a 1/4 of what I made.
Guess I am not much of a business man.

[Brad W Wi]

I always give some away. To people I like, people that do things for me, and family. Some goes as gifts at Christmas too. Some to senior citizens who in some cases can't afford to buy it. I like giving some small bottles to kids that visit the sugarbush with thier folks. You give a small bottle to someone and they might come back to buy a large one.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have people that I have given syrup to in the past ask when I get back from vacation if I have any more syrup. So I started asking them if they brought me a T shirt from their last vacation and they look at me like Im crazy. I like giving it away to people that actually appreciate it and dont demand or expect it. And no I have never gotton a T shirt
Its the best way to get thru doors people do remember you

[maplehound]

Thanks Haynes, I did fix that. My typing skills leave something to be desired.

[Big maple]

We put a small display of the bottles we have on the wall with prices on the bottle because whenever somebody would ask me how much I would send them home with a free bottle. Now they just pick what they want and this keeps me from giving everything away and they are just as happy as if I had given it to them.

[maple flats]

I give some away to friends and relatives, the rest gets sold. I friends want more before I decide to give more away, they buy it. I have not had any complaints.

[KenWP]

Being a farmer my whole life I have faced certain things with people who are not farmers. They think that we raise or produce beef,grain or maple syrup for nothing and do not understand the work and costs involved in producing it. I once offered my brother half a beef for the cost of getting the whole thing processed and he was pretty upset that it ended up costing him $250 for a half a beef.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Ok, I don't give syrup away. If someone wants it, they can buy it. I have been making syrup since around 1990ish and I sell at $ 12 per quart and $ 7 per pint which is very fair price, better quality than the stores sell and close to half the price. I don't do this for money and I lose money every year, but I am not going to work off my backside to give it away. That being said, I give away about 15 gallon per year to people who HELP ME make syrup, whose trees I use, one guy lets me use his woodsplitter free of charge and it gets a full maintenance every year and he gets a gallon of syrup. If I run into someone who really wants some but couldn't afford it, then I don't mind giving someone like that a jug but that is very rare because my syrup is cheap enough that just about anyone can afford it.

I have a ton of family members and when I give to one, then I should give to all and they can all afford it, so if they want it, they can buy it. I have 2 sister-in-laws who get highly miffed about it because they don't get some for free, but both their families make double or more what my wife and I make and they can just enjoy eating their pancakes with 2 dollar WallyWorld syrup.

[tessiersfarm]

I only make about 20 gal per year and I make 2 for my brother who's woodlot I tap, 2 for my father who is also my right hand man doing whatever I am doing, and a few 1/2 pints for gifts. The rest pay cash. I set my prices mid rang of other area producers and if someone wants a better price I give them directions up the road. I could sell twice what I make so why cut my price. I am currently working out a deal for another 50 taps or so in trade for syrup but that is not really giving it away.

[Amber Gold]

This is my first year producing large quantities of syrup. I intend to make syrup my yearly Christmas present to family members. Also this being my first year I relied upon some good friends to get things done: roof on, equipment moved, electric, and etc. They will all get free syrup this year. Also I tap trees on my neighbors land so I'll either give them syrup or cash depending on what they want.

At this point I've got too much money into it to be giving it away. When I set prices for this year I intend to be middle of the road and go from there.

[Haynes Forest Products]

The problem with the middle of the road is you get run over. I think the sooner you decide what side you want to be on the sooner the better. Sell cheap sell it all out and you dont build a good clientel or sell it at a good price that reflects your product and build for the future and a following. Hold out for the person that is willing to pay for a premium product. There is nothing worse than selling out in the first 2 weeks and then telling all others your out of syrup they wont call back.

[maple flats]

I am not sure about selling out causing very many future lost sales. I sold out very early, not because my prices were give away prices but because I had 3 newspaper articles about my sugarhouse leading into the 08 maple weekend. During that event I had so many customers that I had waiting lines outside for 5 of the 6 hrs we were officially open for the 2 day event (it was only 2 days because of where Easter fell). I sold 7 times what my previous record was for a 4 day event. I had no qts or larger left after that. I sold the rest of my smaller sizes before the end of summer. However, I have had everyone who has asked for more since then has placed an order for some when i get more made. This will be real soon now. I am sure some have bought elsewhere in the meantime but many have asked several times to be sure to tell them when i have more. My prices were towards the top of what others said they were selling at during the season last year, but I did lose the chance to go with the flow in the fall because I had already sold out. I truly have the feeling that I will get most of these customers again this season, time will tell. I have increased my taps by about 40% but still need more to meet my demand.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I guess thats what I ment about a good clientele. Sounds like you have them knocking on the door and having fun then they will be back.
Reminds me of the guy that walks into the syrup Shack and says how much for that quart of syrup and the owner says $10.00 and the guy thats crazy the guy down the road was selling his for $6.00. The owner told him to go down there and get it! The guy said I can't he went out of business.

[michiganfarmer]

I give syrup to anyone who helps, and I keep my parents, and brother in syrup.

[Jeff E]

I sell the vast majority, the give away is alway gifts or in trade for help. My favorite thing is going to hunter safety classes and handing a pint to each of the volunteers. By the way this has generated a lot of business. Last fall I had one of the volunteers come by ask for a 12 pack of pints (@$7/pint) to take out to the Dakotas. He gives it to folks who let his group hunt their land.

By the way, my family and guests consumes more than we give away. I think we went through 7+ gallons this year.