Delayed maple syrup event gives boost to struggling Maine producers
Courtesy/ Dunn Family Farm
The Maine Maple Producers Association’s rescheduled maple syrup event saw about a quarter of the usual number of springtime attendees, but that’s viewed as a win, said Scott Dunn, the association’s president and owner of Dunn Family Maple in Buxton. Dunn is seen here boiling sap at his sugarhouse.
Typically, Dunn Family Maple, a maple syrup producer in Buxton, sees 2,000 to 3,000 visitors during Maine Maple Sunday, the Maine Maple Producers Association’s premier sales event held every March.
During the event that was rescheduled and expanded this year because of the pandemic, the business received 500 to 800 visitors.
Despite the fact that turnout was only a quarter of the usual level, “It was a nice surprise,” owner Scott Dunn told Mainebiz.
Dunn, who is president of the Maine Maple Producers Association, didn’t have the total number of customers taking part in Maine Maple Producers Weekend, held Oct. 9-11. But he said the other 40 or so producers who took part were also pleased, calling attendance strong compared with what had been anticipated.
After postponing its spring event due to COVID-19, the association combined virtual and in-person activities for the new maple event.
It began on Friday, Oct. 9, with the association's first-ever Maine maple recipe contest at the Cumberland Fairgrounds Sugar House. (See sidebar for winners.)
Big sales in the spring
Maine Maple Sunday is typically a significant revenue generator, said Dunn. Normally held the fourth Sunday in March, it features product freshly made during the tapping season, which takes place from February through April. There are educational talks about how syrup is made, tours of the operations and products for sale.
Some producers sell as much as 80% of their stock during the event, Dunn explained.
The association was within a week of holding the event this past March when the events were shut down due to the pandemic. So the group quickly moved to plan a modified event, said Dunn.
“As we moved through the pandemic, we’ve been able to learn from it and adapt how customers shop and how businesses operate, and we felt it was safe to hold a fall event,” he said.
In anticipation of the weekend showcase, many producers improved online ordering systems or coordinated pick-up orders. Many also had in-person offerings that were changed to accommodate CDC and local guidelines and keep visitors safe. Rather than showing visitors around their sugarhouses, many held outdoor activities and sold products outside.
The loss of the springtime Maine Maple Sunday hurt a lot of producers initially, but most have reported normal and even slightly stronger sales since then, Dunn added.
Producers have a variety of outlets, including wholesale to local and regional grocery stores, roadside sales with “honor” payment boxes, direct sales to customers stopping by at their sugarhouses, and direct-to-consumer via website sales. Larger producers, some of them having over 100,000 taps and making thousands of gallons of syrup per year, distribute their product to large grocery chains such as Hannaford or sell wholesale to large packers.
“Having an event like the Maine Maple Producers Weekend was important to our members after having to postpone Maine Maple Sunday in March,” Dunn said.
“Our annual spring event helps to build enthusiasm around the locally created products and connect producers with our customers. Hosting the fall event allowed our producers to have the opportunity that was not possible in the spring. With the success of this year’s event, we hope to continue hosting a fall maple event in the future in addition to our annual Maine Maple Sunday.”
Making up losses
Dunn runs 1,600 taps and makes over 300 gallons per year. He said that he and other smaller producers had to wait to make up for losses when Maine Maple Sunday was canceled. But the boost from the recent weekend helped, he said. The event was held in conjunction with the new North American Maple Tour in the U.S. and Canada, which will continue until Oct. 18.
Altogether, about 40 Maine producers are taking part in both autumn affairs. There are over 500 licensed producers in Maine, and the Maine Maple Producers Association represents 250.
The industry brings $27 million annually to Maine’s economy and employs about 500 people per year.
Dunn expects to sell all of his output by the end of the year, mostly direct to customers who stop by the sugarhouse, plus website sales and some wholesale to a few stores.
“Most likely we’ll be able to sell all of our product, but we have had to work a lot harder this year to be able to sell it,” he said.
He added, “Maple syrup has a long shelf life. That piece doesn’t make a difference, whether it’s spring or fall.”
The outlook for 2021?
Maple trees don’t know there’s a pandemic, so production will remain steady and perhaps even rise, he said. Evolving technologies increase production efficiencies. For example, vacuum pump tubing systems allow tree sap to move more easily from tree to bucket and evaporators increase boil rates that turn the sap into syrup.
Lessons learned from the pandemic this year could mean a return to Maine Maple Sunday next March, he said.
“I’m highly optimistic,” said Dunn.
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