Ever wonder how much maple syrup is made in Canada?
If you ask someone what's made in Canada, it's almost certain there's one thing they'll say - maple syrup. From the leaf on our flag, the glaze on donuts, and that attractive glass bottle in your fridge, maple syrup is a key part of Canadian identity. All these may be a bit cliche, but maple syrup production is a significant economic driver for parts of the country. In this article, we'll find out how much maple syrup is made in Canada, where it's exported, how it's made, and the legendary maple syrup reserve. So let's get sticky...
How much is maple syrup made in Canada?
The Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) releases a report on Canadian maple each year syrup product. In 2020-2021 Canada produced 89% of the world's Maple Syrup, 73% of that from Quebec, 6% from the rest of Canada. That's a lot of syrup! Quebec alone produced over 133 million pounds of finished maple syrup.
Where does it all go?
Canada exports the vast majority of its maple syrup production. Most of it goes to five primary markets: the USA, Germany, UK, Japan, and Australia. In 2020 Canada exported maple syrup worth over $515,000,000 worldwide. Because maple syrup is only produced at an industrial scale in Canada and the northeastern part of the United States, most of these global markets don't have much choice as to where they buy their maple syrup from.
How is maple syrup made?
Maple syrup is made by extracting sap from sugar maple trees and boiling it down to a syrup. A tap is placed into each sugar maple to extract the sap by drilling a small hole and hammering a nozzle into the tree. A bucket is then placed underneath or a hose connected to collect the running sap.
All of this happens at a particular time of year when the conditions are ideal for the sap to run in the trees. Temperatures need to be above freezing during the day and below during the night. This allows the sap to flow through the tap and into large collection tanks, where it waits to get processed.
For the sap to become syrup, it needs to be boiled down-water evaporated off. Forty litres of sap are reduced into one litre of finished syrup. Once evaporated and cooled, it's then bottled and ready for sale.
What is the Canadian maple syrup reserve?
The Canadian Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve is a warehouse in Laurierville, Quebec, that stores surplus maple syrup. The warehouse has a capacity of around 90,000 metric tonnes and is the world's largest maple syrup reserve. It was created in 2002 to help stabilize the price of maple syrup. The reserve is owned by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers and is managed by Groupe Agrofi Sapropel. It currently holds around 100 million pounds of syrup, about 70% of 2021's total production. In the case of a poor crop, Quebec's syrup producers will still have plenty to sell.
Conclusion
So there you have it - a bit of maple syrup in Canada. Canada is the world leader in maple syrup production. The vast majority is exported to five primary markets, with the USA being the largest. It's made by boiling the sap down from sugar maple trees, and the Canadian Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve helps stabilize prices. Next time you're pouring some over your pancakes or waffles, you can think about all of the work that goes into making it!
Maple Tip:
Next time you're in Quebec consider checking out a sugar shack or Cabane á Sucre. These are traditional maple syrup producers. There you'll get the chance to see the sugar grove, how the sap is extracted, and where it gets boiled down into maple syrup. At the end of the day, you get a big traditional meal with all the syrup you want to wash down.