{"id":939492,"date":"2026-10-20T02:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T02:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/939492\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T02:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T02:02:15","slug":"strategic-maple-syrup-reserve-close-to-empty-producers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/939492\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategic maple syrup reserve close to empty, producers say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A worker checks barrels of pasteurized maple syrup stored at the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve warehouse in Plessisville, Que. The reserve\u2019s three warehouses in Quebec have a combined capacity of 133 million pounds, or 218,000 barrels.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s official maple syrup reserve is sitting near empty, the result of a strong surge in demand that has drained supply to levels not seen in more than a decade.<\/p>\n

The Quebec industry, worth about $1.2-billion a year to the province\u2019s GDP, produces most of the world\u2019s maple syrup. And its stockpile is maintained by a government-sanctioned cartel called the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, known by its French acronym PPAQ. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of next February, all the remaining syrup sold under contract will be gone,\u201d said Simon Dor\u00e9-Ouellet, deputy director-general at PPAQ. \u201cOur warehouses will be at zero.\u201d <\/p>\n

The PPAQ sets minimum prices for bulk shipments, regulates production volumes through quotas, and monitors safety and quality standards. <\/p>\n

Maple syrup that\u2019s not sold goes to three warehouses in Quebec with a combined capacity of 133 million pounds (218,000 barrels worth $400-million if the space is all full) that can be drawn on when weather conditions yield a lower crop. The aim is to have a greater stability in supply and pricing from season to season. <\/p>\n

At the moment, demand from consumers is simply outstripping supply. Bulk buyers and processors, such as Rogers Sugar Inc. and Les Industries Bernard & Fils, are snapping up higher volumes of syrup to meet that demand and sell to retail customers. Increasing their stocks also gives them more operational flexibility in the context of trade tension with the U.S., when they might need to make quick shipments on a timely basis. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019re seeing a situation like this. There\u2019s much more inventory in the hands of our big buyers than in the past,\u201d Mr. Dor\u00e9-Ouellet said. <\/p>\n

Which Quebec city is the world\u2019s true maple capital? A sticky battle is afoot<\/a><\/p>\n

Quebec produces about 70 per cent of the world\u2019s maple syrup and roughly 65 per cent of that annual output is shipped to the United States. The breakfast staple is not subject to U.S. tariffs, though the industry continues to brace for that possibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Syrup can last years without losing value when it\u2019s stored under proper conditions. Tapping it requires maple trees and a unique set of meteorological freeze-and-thaw weather cycles that aren\u2019t guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Canadian exports of maple syrup grew 15.8 per cent year-on-year in 2025 and 9.3 per cent in 2024 over 2023 levels, federal government data show. Europe has been among the bigger growth markets internationally. <\/p>\n

\u201cProcessors have boosted their inventories to guard against a possible rupture\u201d in syrup availability, said Louis Turenne, president of Quebec\u2019s Maple Industry Council, which represents authorized bulk buyers and processors. He called for a major acceleration in production to meet the demand. <\/p>\n

Inventories now in the hands of processors, coupled with next year\u2019s syrup yield, might be sufficient to meet orders, but an imbalance will catch up to the industry eventually given that the strategic reserve is nearly depleted, Mr. Turenne said. \u201cThere\u2019s no safety net\u201d so things could get tight, he said. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Quebec produces about 70 per cent of the world\u2019s maple syrup.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

When reserve stocks last went dry and retailers couldn\u2019t get their hands on maple syrup in 2008, they turned to other products instead and Canadian companies in the sector lost market share, according to the PPAQ. Those other options include corn syrup, molasses or even honey. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a strategic reserve isn\u2019t an end in itself. What\u2019s important is that we continue to supply markets so we\u2019re not out of stock completely,\u201d Mr. Turenne said. \u201cIt can be long path to get back on the shelf if we lose space to other sweet products.\u201d <\/p>\n

Maple syrup farms are growing in scale, increasing the efficiency of operations. But they need access to more land and higher quotas than they have at the moment, Mr. Turenne said. <\/p>\n

The PPAQ has offered about 21 million tree taps over the past five years, which has attracted hundreds of new producers, Mr. Dor\u00e9-Ouellet said. <\/p>\n

But he acknowledged that significant challenges remain for farmers, including securing financial backing at a time of tremendous uncertainty generally for the North American economy. The PPAQ is asking for more provincial government support, including funding. <\/p>\n

The Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, which took power this month after winning a minority government, recently proposed to bring in 50,000 new hectares of public forest for maple syrup production. The party also said it would consider the eventual adoption of a \u201cnational maple policy.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A worker checks barrels of pasteurized maple syrup stored at the Global Strategic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":939493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-939492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=939492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/939493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}