Strategic maple syrup reserve close to empty, producers say
Quebec's strategic maple syrup reserve is nearing depletion due to record-high demand from bulk buyers and processors. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which regulates the industry, reports that warehouses will be empty by next February.
Why it matters
As the world's primary supplier of maple syrup, a supply shortage in Quebec could lead to significant price increases and market instability for global consumers.
A worker checks barrels of pasteurized maple syrup stored at the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve warehouse in Plessisville, Que. The reserve’s three warehouses in Quebec have a combined capacity of 133 million pounds, or 218,000 barrels. Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Canada’s 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.
The Quebec industry, worth about $1.2-billion a year to the province’s GDP, produces most of the world’s 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.
“At the end of next February, all the remaining syrup sold under contract will be gone,” said Simon Doré-Ouellet, deputy director-general at PPAQ. “Our warehouses will be at zero.”
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