Bad weather and the pandemic blamed as Quebec forced to release half its maple reserve due to a shortage in the “blond gold.”

Tamara Alghadhanfari. S@Y News.

The Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) announced that it would release about 22.7 million kilograms of maple syrup from its strategic reserve — 50% of its stockpile — into the market. Quebec produces 73 percent of the world’s supply.

The shortage came as a result of bad weather and high market demand. Maple syrup comes from sugar maple trees. Getting a good yield requires precise weather — warm at night and cold during the day. This year’s warm spring resulted in a low yield.

Helene Normandin, the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers’ (QMSP) communications director, told Global News that last year, about 60 million kilograms (133 million pounds) of syrup were produced, down 18 million kilograms (40 million pounds) compared with the prior year.

“The pandemic helped in our case because we’re seeing people cook more at home and use more local products,” Normandin said in an interview with Bloomberg. “It’s not just in Quebec the demand is increasing.”

According to Bloomberg, the global demand for the liquid gold increased by 21%, and the producers couldn’t meet those demands. However, Normandin assured consumers maple syrup would not go missing on the shelves soon.

“That’s why the reserve is made, to never miss maple syrup. And we won’t miss maple syrup!”  Normandin said, in an interview with the American National Public Radio (NPR).

Sugar maple trees grow in the southeast of Canada, in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. The trees also grow in the north and northeast of the United States. Maple is harvested by inserting a plastic or metal tube into the sugar maple tree, and the syrup is collected in buckets under the tube. The sugar tree has to be about 40 years old and 10-12 inches in diameter to be large enough to tap.

This is not the debut of the Quebec maple syrup. In 2012 maple syrup made headlines after more than 3,000 tons of the syrup were stolen from the Quebec reserve. The value of the stolen amount was estimated at 19 million Canadian dollars. The theft was dubbed as “The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.”

 

QMSP is already preparing for the future in light of the recent shortage.

“What we can figure at this moment is maybe the season here in Quebec will start a bit earlier in February, instead of March, and end earlier also,” Normandin told NPR.