Work cut out for us

[markcasper]

I have done this sort of thing hundreds of times. Most of the time there is no response. Occasionally you get a "thanks" and no change to the story. Very rarely there is a correction.

Yes, but Tim, she personally cited you (not your name if I remember) in her story! I think it would at least be beneficial in this rare example. I am actually quite surprised that she didn't go after oil/gas evaporators. Like Parker said, during this period of surplus any false propaganda certainly isn't going to help matters. It alarms me to see things like this showing up in a natural foods store! BAD, BAD, BAD!

[sap retreiver]

Sometimes you show all the proof in the world and they'll still call white black just cause. Help the helpless screw the clueless. No sense wasting your time on someone that can't help themselves. I wouldn't waste my time on it either

[motowbrowne]

Well doc, its sad to me that you dont want to take a little time to educate a missguided vegan with your knowledge. Who knows how many folks take her word as gospel...educating folks about the bennifits an facts regarding maple helps us all in these times of gross overproduction...like many have stated befor,,,marketing is what is needed in the industry.....you sir have that special knowledge and ability to intelagently convey your specilalized knowledge......
Lets all do our best to grow the market,,,
What is the downside?

There's nothing stopping any one of us from writing an article citing the great work that Dr Tim and others have done on the subject of maple syrup.

My thinking is that the good doctor has his hands full actually doing the research, and that it's our jobs to use that information to convince consumers how great our product is.

Just my .02.

[Parker]

It sounds a little diffrent,,pulls more weight when you have a phd......we all try to do what we can.....lets ease up on the reasearch and focus on marketing......i think we have the production thing down pretty well,,,,,marketing might be something we would want to focus on for a bit....my 2 cents........all the best

[DrTimPerkins]

It sounds a little diffrent,,pulls more weight when you have a phd......we all try to do what we can.....lets ease up on the reasearch and focus on marketing......i think we have the production thing down pretty well,,,,,marketing might be something we would want to focus on for a bit....my 2 cents........all the best

Again, I am not against answering questions and helping to educate folks. My issue, especially in this case, is that the author hasn't shown any interest in educating herself about the issues involved. In those instances, most efforts to inform and educate are pointless. I try to limit the time I spend on pointless endeavors. If any of you want to refer her to me, by all means do so. If she makes an effort to reach out, I'll answer any questions she has. However to blindly try to correct that article (which would take hours) without any sort of certainty that it would do any amount of good is simply a waste of time.

Secondly, your point about stopping production research and starting marketing is a good illustration of the lack of understanding most people have about how research works. First, you have to have a good question and approach to answer it. Second....you need to find funding. This can take a few years. Then, since this is maple and seasons are different, it takes 2-3 years of field research (you have to wait for each season to come) to answer that question. Then there is typically 2-3 years of outreach and education. So the full process takes 5-8 years start to finish. We don't just show up one day and say, "let's stop doing production research and start doing marketing research."

In terms of marketing research.....the issue we are having is that everyone we've asked (and we've asked a lot of people) has a different idea of what marketing is needed, and of what marketing research is needed to support those efforts. There is almost no consensus in the industry about what they want or need (other than "marketing"). Everyone has a different idea. It is very hard to come up with a body of research projects and to start looking for funding (not to mention start doing the work) if we don't know what the industry wants. Since the industry itself funds so little of our work directly (maybe 5%), there will always be a significant lag time between when the need is there and the results are forthcoming. If the industry actually supported maple marketing research, it could start tomorrow. Just tell me where to send the bill?

[southfork]

Good post Dr. Perkins.

[Parker]

Guys,,,i totaly understand all of your points of view.......your reasoning,,and your logic.......unfortunatly, the reality of the situation is we have massive overproduction with more comming on line,,,,as a result the price of syrup will be dropping,,(affecting all of us on this site),,,to try to change this situation we all have to "think outside the box",,,,i know,,i know,,,its hard to invest alot of grey matter into uncharted territory (marketing) when what we are already working on and have been working on,,,what we are used to takes up most of our time and energy........
I was at vt food ventures in hardwick last week (totaly awsome experiance-super nice folks) exploring some ideas i have for a novel product (that has a boatload of maple in it) and got some great feedback,,hoping to move forward with the product soon....lots of details to iron out....if i can do it all of you can too,,,,,,,come on guys,,,one of us can come up with the next big idea for useing mass quantities of syrup in a new way...then we all win..
Tell you what doc....i will start thinking marketing reasearch for you with funding included,,,might take me a while to come up with a good one..but..i will....how about you try to beat me to it..(your smart, im sure you have some ideas)..i have to believe a packer who could bennifit thru added sales would throw down the funds for the reasearch,,(seems like it would be easy to get funding from someone who would directly financialy bennifit),just gotto find the right idea...who is gonna stepup?

How about you southfork,,,you seem clever,,,whats your idea??? How are you contributing to increasing the maple market,,all it takes is one real good idea...
Lets get on it.........and correcting misinformation is the first step.......i will get in touch with paleo "fakenews" jane if no one ealse will.....try my best to be nice about it. LETS GO,!!!!

[southfork]

Good post Parker. The industry has no significant marketing arm, nor the current funding to do it in a big way. Logically, marketing and awareness should come from the industry through maple organizations, much like happens in dairy, pork, poultry and beef. The problem might be one of scale and financing. Marketing is not likely the job for a research institution.

There are some in the industry who nationally market maple and develop maple products, such as Crown Maple and Sweet Tree. And, of course all the producers who pack and advertise, have websites, and/or attend fairs and farm markets speaking directly with consumers. I currently lease a 5,000 tap operation to a bulk barrel producer and therefore do little to nothing to expand markets, not something I am proud of. I make my living another way so am not fully vested in maple, at least yet.
Race

[DrTimPerkins]

Tell you what doc....i will start thinking marketing reasearch for you with funding included,,,might take me a while to come up with a good one..but..i will....how about you try to beat me to it..(your smart, im sure you have some ideas)..i have to believe a packer who could bennifit thru added sales would throw down the funds for the reasearch,,(seems like it would be easy to get funding from someone who would directly financialy bennifit),just gotto find the right idea...who is gonna stepup?

It is not due to a lack of asking folks in the industry for their thoughts....it is simply a matter of finding some consensus to focus around. That is very hard when you have a range from folks marketing farm gate to international mass marketing.

As for packers funding research....they already do a lot of their own marketing. Their aim is not to build a larger market for generic syrup overall, but rather to build a market for their own brands. They really don't like to talk about what it is they do given the proprietary and highly valuable nature of the information they generate and use. Can't blame them.

What is needed, from my viewpoint at least, is to build the recognition of PURE maple syrup (and associated products), and in that way increase consumption (which is pitifully small) through a regional or national level promotional effort. Just a small increase in consumption will do away with the surplus in a real hurry. Why isn't this being done? There is no money to fund it. Canada tends to spend it's promotion $ building demand outside the U.S. Packers spend their $ promoting their products in their own markets. States tend to promote own syrup within their borders. Producers serve their own small areas or clientele. Nobody is focusing on building demand for pure maple syrup overall. IMSI is working on this, but they have no resources for a serious effort. If we want to solve this problem, we need to spend some $. The question is where to get those $. Personally I think the time for a national maple market order has come.

I just put up a poll here http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...ing-Tools-Poll and invite you all to participate.

[Maplewalnut]

Good discussion and I agree consumption is obviously the key. I also agree that it needs a more 'national' push to increase sales. Dropping prices only creates local commodity markets flooded with syrup that benefits no producer and only the very big and/or highly efficient farms will survive. even in an equation independent of the federation and exchange rates, bulk syrup sales will always only be as good as the packer/buyer outreach. If the buyer/packer is not interested in expanding the market share and back end supply increases the price drops. Very simple and predictable formula. The challenge is creating a 'national push' for a 'regional product' in whatever shape it takes.