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I was at menards today. They had a big display of maple syrup. They were selling it for 9.99 a qt. With this weeks brown bag sale you wood get for 15 % off. That making it 8.50 a qt. This doesn't help us as farmers or maple syrup producer. with the syrup being ship into the USA.
At Walmart, they are asking $9.95 for both 250ml and 375 ml made by Crown and Springtree. All Syrup, Vanilla infused and Bourbon Barrel Aged is all the same price.
My sister in law had a quart she bought from Sams for like $7 around Christmas. I tried it, was quite surprised at how good it was. Usually it is a poor representation on maple.
It seems Crown said when they were asked about starting such a big operation, that they would not be competing with other producers, they would all be new specialty products developed by them. They did not develop regular maple syrup nor bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. Another lie to get approval.
There has been several big ones that have been started lately including a couple under way in Vermont that have said the same thing, only to compete with existing markets or dump on the bulk market.Quote:
Originally Posted by maple flats
My guess is that the prices will be going much lower. The prices must have been too high to fuel all of the expansion. People with big loans will go out of business and it will get back to normal.
I have made the same type comments in the past. The syrup in the Box stores does taste good. With a price of $9.99 or less for a quart this is only going to drive the overall price of maple down. As much as we all hate to see this happen it's inevitable. Maple is competing with other sweeteners. In order to have any chance you must be willing to lower the price. This is whats happening right now. There is boat loads of syrup on hand both in Canada and US. I see this years bulk price going down a bit due to the great seasons we have been getting.Quote:
Originally Posted by regor0
Spud
Unfortunately thats the way the while country is going with not just maple but most prducts. The biggest thing to remember is to sell yourself and your operation as family owned and knowing where your food id raised or made. Most people will support local when it comes down to quality products with a good story
I tend to agree with Kh7722, even with the super low prices from Canadian and US syrup, my prices have been the same for the last 7 years and my sales have climbed significantly every year. 2018 was my best ever in sales volume and I retail all of my syrup. I sold no bulk in 2018 and in 2017 I only sold one barrel of Very Dark. Now with my bourbon barrel aged maple syrup selling so well I use any Very Dark to make that if I have any. I made none in 2018, but had enough carried over from 2017 and 2016 to fill my needs until now. I'm putting up another barrel of bourbon barrel maple syrup today and for my first time I will be using Dark rather than Very Dark.
My website sales and my local sales enjoyed a big gain in 2018. My overall sales jumped 34% from 2017 and 2017 was by far my best year until 2018.
I agree with both of you. There will always be a retail market for those sugar makers that desire to go that route. It's not to hard to sell 400-500 gallons retail but it's very hard to sell 40,000-50,000 gallons. Unfortunately 95% or more of all syrup made probably is sold bulk to packers. This volume is what dictates the bulk price that is set. I am very happy to see producers sell some or all their syrup at retail price. I too am building up a retail base that could exceed 1000 gallons per year by June. It is very exciting to make more then the bulk price. I wish everyone the best of luck in their sales.
Spud