It was a good year for one of Canada’s most iconic exports. After a difficult year for maple syrup production in 2023, the industry seems to have emerged from a delicate situation.
Canada experienced a record year for maple syrup production in 2024, new data from Statistics Canada revealed Thursday. However, this may not be enough to bring prices down.
“Usually higher agricultural production leads to lower prices, but this is a specialized, processed product,” said Barry Prentice, an agricultural economist at the University of Manitoba.
“Given the size of the export market and food inflation, I would say we are lucky to not see any price increases. »
The price of a liter of Grade A maple syrup can range from $15-17 at grocery stores like Real Canadian Superstore and Walmart, to $25-28 directly from local producers.
Statistics Canada does not specifically track maple syrup prices, but classifies the product in its Sugar and Syrup Index. Annual price changes in the index decreased by 3.1 percent in 2019, by 4.5 percent in 2020, then by 4.6 percent in 2021, by 15.1 percent in 2022 and by 9 .6 percent in 2023.
Canadian maple syrup producers harvested 19.9 million gallons of maple syrup in 2024, up 91.3 percent from 2023.
Production was higher in the four maple provinces – Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia – in 2024.
Maple syrup production fell from 17.4 million gallons in 2022 to 10.4 million gallons in 2023, which Statistics Canada attributed to extreme weather conditions such as storms and temperature fluctuations.
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Canada’s strategic maple syrup reserve fell to a 16-year low in 2023.
Statistics Canada’s 2023 maple syrup industry report indicates that the Fédération des producers acéricoles du Québec (FPQ) controls the quantity of production in Quebec, the largest maple-producing province in the country, and maintains a strategic reserve of maple syrup.
This is done to “minimize fluctuations in prices and supply availability, which are driven by natural variability in annual production.”
Statistics Canada cited “favorable weather conditions and increased yields” in 2024 as the reason for the good harvest.
“It’s the weather,” Prentice said.
“It’s just a question of whether the spring conditions are good and whether the trees are growing well. You need cold nights and warm days for an extended period of time. It certainly helps if there is a lot of snow.
Quebec remained by far the largest producer of maple syrup in Canada, harvesting 18 million gallons in 2024, up 8.7 million gallons or 92.2 percent from 2023.
Ontario, which harvested 607,000 gallons, saw an increase of almost 21 percent from 2023.
Production in Nova Scotia increased by almost a third between 2023 and 43,000 gallons in 2024.
The largest percentage increase was in New Brunswick, which saw a 128 percent increase thanks to the harvest of 1.2 million gallons of maple syrup.
Canadian exports of maple syrup also increased, with Canada exporting 8.4 million gallons of maple products during the first three quarters of 2024, up 8.8 percent from the same period. period in 2023.
Prentice said that despite the high production, Canadian syrup producers should have no difficulty selling their products around the world.
“We produce 71 percent of the world’s supply and the United States has the remaining 29 percent,” he said.
He said 61 percent of Canadian maple syrup is exported to the United States, 25 percent to Europe and the rest to Asia, in addition to significant domestic demand.
“There is no comparable product. It competes in a way with sugar and honey – it’s a sweetener, but it’s such a unique product in its own right,” he said.
Prentice said any excess maple syrup could simply be used to replenish supplies due to its long shelf life.
With more and more maple syrup likely to hit shelves soon, a bottle of good old maple syrup might just make a good Christmas gift.
“It’s one of our specialties. Beavers, Mounties and maple syrup are Canadian icons,” said Prentice.
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