Sweet Dilemma: Will
New Maple Syrup Standards Sap Vermont's Image?
Some Producers Stacked Against Push for
Uniform Grading System
By Jennifer Levitz in
the Wall Street Journal
MONTPELIER, Vt.—A
sticky debate is swirling around this state.
As production of maple
syrup soars, the industry's big trade group is pushing a dozen states and four
Canadian provinces that make up the North American maple belt to adopt one
uniform grading standard. The International Maple Syrup Institute thinks the
booming commodity can be better marketed world-wide without confusing
consumers.
But while many
maple-producers are eager to spread the idea, scores of others are waffling
over going to one international standard, fearing a loss of their quirky,
homespun image.
"I'm not changing,"
said Edward Merrow, the owner of Blow Hill Maple Products in Danby, Vt., who
has resigned from one local maple association that supported the new standard
and has aligned himself with the Rutland County Maple
The maple melee is
running especially thick in Vermont, where maple is the official "state
flavor" and busloads of leaf-peeping tourists snap up quaintly packaged
syrup by the gallons. The state, the biggest U.S. producer of maple syrup, is
the first state to adopt the new international standards and is giving
producers until next January to comply or face possible fines.
Sugarmakers, as
industry professionals call themselves, fear that sharing label descriptions
with New York, Maine, Quebec and elsewhere will dilute the cachet of
Vermont-made syrup.
"Vermont doesn't
have an ocean and it doesn't have Disneyland. What it's got is a maple image,
and we have capitalized on that by offering four grades of syrup," said
Burr Morse, a white-bearded longtime sugarmaker at Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks,
off a winding road here in Montpelier. "But we can mess that up."
Vermont, which puts
maple syrup on a pedestal along with cheese and covered bridges, has long had
its own distinctive syrup-grading system: Grade A Fancy Light Amber, followed
by Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, and Grade B, so-called, locals
say, not because it is lower in quality but for its more intense maple flavor,
which appeals to many tourists.
But after a series of
community "maple meetings," the state adopted new standards. By next
year, all retail syrup in Vermont will be labeled "Grade A" because
the trade group believes that consumers assume anything lower on the alphabet
is inferior.
"That is just an
absolute crock," said Mr. Morse. "Over half of my customers say, 'I
like Grade B.' "
Syrup will be
differentiated by a "descriptor" based on color, clarity and taste:
Golden/Delicate Taste; Amber/Rich Taste; Dark/Robust Taste; and Very
Dark/Strong Taste.
"Robust? Strong?
What are they talking about: coffee or maple syrup?" asks Mr. Morse.
Currently,
coordinating any sort of comprehensive exporting is "a nightmare,"
said Eric Randall, a New York maple-syrup producer and a board member of the
International Maple Syrup Institute.
Light-colored syrup,
for instance, is called "Fancy Grade" in Vermont, "Light
Amber" in New York, and "No. 1 Extra Light" in Canada—a pattern
seen in multiple categories. Market research showed consumers felt flummoxed,
he said.
For instance,
"people were confusing light with fat-free and no calories, and well, we
know maple syrup has calories," he said.
The conundrum springs
from a sweet situation. Maple syrup production is soaring because of new vacuum
technology that is increasing the yield of sap per each tap placed in trees.
Weather still matters, but no longer do wintry temperatures have to be ideal to
get the sap running.
U.S. maple syrup
production in 2013 hit 3.25 million gallons, up 70% from 2012, with the Vermont
bringing in 40% of the haul, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The industry is
evolving, and it is time for syrup makers to compete more globally and bring
home the bacon, many maple experts say.
"You can't just
sell syrup to your neighbor anymore," said Henry Marckres, the Vermont
Agency of Agriculture's official staff "maple specialist" who said he
recently helped ship 10,000 cases of Vermont syrup to Australia and had
interest from Thailand.
Getting states and
provinces on board with one grading standard has "been fraught," said
Mr. Randall, of the international trade group. Anger pours out in online maple
chat rooms. "I refer to it as trash," he said.
In Wisconsin, where
the grading proposal is under discussion, syrup-maker Katrina Becker of Stoney
Acres Farm said some producers fear their industry could become Big Maple. One
standard is the first step to price controls, more regulation and speculative
maple-syrup trading, she predicted.
New York is planning
to move to the new standards in 2015, though there were some naysayers,
including the Northern New York Maple Producers Co-Op which lodged its formal
opposition, claiming that the new edict allowed what it viewed as a lesser
quality of dark syrup, now graded as "Extra Dark for Cooking," to be
called "Grade A."
Nearby in Croghan,
N.Y., the American Maple Museum—which houses the Maple Hall of Fame, displays a
collection that includes variety of buckets and is largely funded by pancake
breakfasts—is refusing to take a position in the flap. But museum director Dale
Moser said it is hard to stay out of the fray.
"I have gone to
many state meetings, and it can get pretty testy," he said. "Wherever
maple syrup is made, people get very passionate about it."
In Maine, some
producers are sweet on the new standards. The state is set to follow the new
grades, in part if they are also adopted by the USDA. The agency says it is
reviewing the proposal at the industry's request.
Michael Bryant, the
secretary-treasurer of the Maine Maple Producers Association, said the system
would put Maine on a level field with Vermont syrup, whose prestige he
attributes to "marketing" more than just quality.
Does a "tree know
which side of the border it is on? I don't think so," he said.
That notion is jarring
over at Morse Farm in Vermont, where the aroma of hot syrup wafted from the
packing room into the retail store on a recent visit. The owner Mr. Morse said
"the epicenter of Vermont is syrup."
"I'm really
scared about this change of grades," he said. "It seems as though
it's designed to erode my brand. I hope I'm wrong."
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