The record production year will allow Quebec maple syrup producers to pay their debts. The “strategic reserve” will be replenished.
• Read also: Record production of 15.9 million gallons of maple syrup in Quebec in 2022
“We were a lot of producers at the end who were tired and couldn’t wait for it to end! “says Alan Bryson, owner of the Omaple maple grove in Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, in Lanaudière.
“We worked an extra week transporting the water and bringing it back to the cabin to turn it into maple syrup. We boiled for six more days, because the quality of the water was still very good. But we’re not complaining, we’re happy! It’s good for business profitability and it allows us to repay debts accumulated during bad years, ”he adds.
Last spring saw the trees sink like never before in the history of Quebec. Syrup production shattered records with 15.9 million gallons, up 59.1% from 2021.
“It is thanks, on the one hand, to what Mother Nature has given us, the temperatures having been adequate. But it is also because our industry is developing. We invest and we use new technologies, more efficient production techniques,” explains Alan Bryson.
A crucial tool
This record production will replenish the famous “strategic reserve”.
This gigantic warehouse, located in Laurierville in Centre-du-Québec, is the size of five football fields. It can hold up to 94,000 barrels of maple syrup, or about 5.1 million gallons, according to the Union des producteurs agricole (UPA).
“The reserve is a tool that producers have put in place to guarantee stable prices, but also a stable supply for the market. We store the surpluses, and the producers agree not to be paid 100% for their production for the current year, ”explains Isabelle Lapointe, general manager at the PPAQ.
Aim for a balance
Last year, to meet strong demand, maple syrup producers had to tap into its strategic reserve.
“Last year, 67 million pounds of maple syrup were taken from the reserve, out of a total of 104 million. This brought the reserve to approximately 37 million pounds, ”says Isabelle Lapointe. But the goal is not to bail out the reserve too quickly, she says, because that would mean more late payments for producers.
“If we put too much in the reserve, we reduce the cash flow of producers. So we try to aim for a balance, ”she explains.
Bringing the strategic reserve down to 100 million pounds could be done in four or five years, she said.
