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Canada is running low on maple syrup and emptying half its emergency reserves

Tag：meagre harvest maple syrup 2021-12-01 09:57

Canada has been forced to tap into its reserves as maple syrup supplies run low after a meagre harvest.

The Canadian province of Quebec suffered a poor harvest of maple syrup and has been forced to release about 50 million pounds of the golden stuff to keep up with demands.

This represents the biggest dip into its strategic reserves since 2008 and means the province is emptying half of its total stockpile.

Speaking to the Times, Hélène Normandin, a spokeswoman for the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers federation, said: “This is the purpose of the reserve. To make sure we never miss maple syrup.”

Canada is running low on maple syrup and emptying half its emergency reserves

The French-speaking province is responsible for 70 per cent of the world’s maple syrup.

The rest is produced in other Canadian provinces, and in the US and its production, sales and marketing are all closely guarded by the powerful bloc Normandin spoke for.

So a shortage here could represent a global issue for those who favour it at breakfast.

The shortage came about due to a number of reasons.

This year saw a 21 per cent surge in global demand with more people being at home thanks to Covid and lockdowns.

Combined with an unusually warm and short spring in the area, producers have struggled to meet demand, and turned to their emergency supplies.

Golden syrup is made from the sap of maple trees.

This sap can only flow naturally between late February and April, when daytime temperatures oscillate between freezing and thawing.

Coming after two record breaking seasons in 2019, and 2020, this year saw the syrup yield drop 24 per cent to 133 million pounds.

To ensure demand can be met in 2022, the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers will be tapping seven million more trees.

Their reserves are kept safe in high-security warehouses, each the size of five football pitches, located in northeast Montreal.

In 2012, during a shocking months-long robbery, £11million worth of syrup was siphoned off and replaced with water.

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