If you enjoy pouring maple syrup over your pancakes on a Saturday morning, then you have Canada to thank for it. The North American nation accounts for 75 percent of the world’s maple syrup production, with the vast majority coming from the province of Quebec. Along with serving as home for 90 percent of Canada’s maple syrup industry, Quebec is also the location of the country’s syrup reserve. This facility is designed to hold as much as 133 million pounds of syrup at any given time in order to serve as a supply source during years with poor harvests.
In 2020, Canada’s maple syrup reserve was nearly full after two consecutive years of record production. These days, however, changing climate has led to lackluster harvests that have forced producers to draw more and more from the reserve supply. As a result, only about 7 million pounds of the sticky substance remained in the reserve by the end of 2023. Still, industry insiders remain confident that there will be no price increases in the short term. “The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,” said Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. “But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future.”
Low supplies at the reserve aren’t necessarily a bad thing: after all, the reason it exists is to be drawn upon when annual production is low. The bumper years that preceded 2020 allowed the syrup industry to stay supplied during the subsequent years of poor production. Still, only time will tell if harvests will return to their pre-pandemic heights. Maple syrup extraction relies on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer days, a key combination that is changing along with the world’s climate. Demand for maple syrup is also rising, leading experts like Doré-Ouellet to predict that rebuilding Canada’s syrup reserve will be a “multi-year process.”
Questions:
- What is the purpose of Canada’s maple syrup reserve?
- Do you think maple syrup prices could rise in the long term if Canada fails to replenish its syrup reserve?
Source: Nadine Yousif, “Canada’s Maple Syrup Reserve Hits 16-Year Low,” BBC, March 25, 2024.