It's officially called the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve and it’s located in Quebec, Canada where about 72% of the world's maple syrup is produced, and then exported to more than 70 countries.
The reserve acts like an emergency stockpile, ensuring the world doesn't face shortages due to bad harvests or other disruptions. Known also as the “Fort Knox of Maple Syrup”, it plays a vital role in stabilising global prices and preventing shortages.
The reserve was established in 2000 by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (FPAQ). Because the maple syrup yield depends heavily on weather conditions, a bad year can drastically reduce supply. By storing surplus syrup from good seasons, the reserve provides a buffer for years when the trees don’t cooperate. Housed in three climate-controlled warehouses, the stockpile has the capacity to hold over 44 million litres of syrup.
One of the most talked-about events in the reserve’s history was the Great Maple Syrup Heist of 2011/2012, where thieves made off with nearly 3,000 tonnes of syrup – valued at about $18 million CAD. They rented space in the storage facility, siphoned syrup from barrels, and replaced it with water. The audacious crime captured global attention, inspiring books and documentaries. [Ed: The Pitch? Ocean’s Eleven meets a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon?]
Maple syrup production has a long and rich history that predates the reserve. Indigenous peoples of North America were the first to harvest and boil maple sap, a process they taught to European settlers. Over the centuries, technology evolved from wooden spouts and buckets to tubing systems and evaporators, making production more efficient while preserving the traditional methods.
Each spring, sap is collected from sugar maples during the thaw when the alternation of warm days and freezing nights causes the sap to flow. The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap. It takes about 40 litres of sap to produce just 1 litre of maple syrup, highlighting why it’s so valuable.
The warming climate is having an impact here, but the the real problem is the increasing unpredictability of when the harvest will be ready. Planning becomes difficult.
The world has developed a taste for authentic maple syrup [Ed: BTW, run a mile if you see the words “Breakfast Syrup”], and the demand for its golden sweetness is only going to increase over time … making the management of the reserve all the more critical moving forward.
Story Idea: Nils Benson
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References
ppaq.ca/en/sale-purchase-maple-syrup/worlds-only-reserve-maple-syrup
bbc.com/news/world-us-canada
themaplenews.com/story/strategic-reserve-nearing-empty-in-quebec
Images
1. The Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly warehouse, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. Credit: Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP
2. Maple syrup
3. A sugar maple tree. Photo credit: Bruce Marlin
4. Sugar Making in Montreal, October 1852 by Cornelius Krieghoff
5. Plastic tubing collects the maple sap
6. Syrup production in a Quebec sugar house (2005). Photo credit: Pierre Ouimet
7. Photo credit: Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP)
8. Maple bacon pancakes [Ed: OMG]
9. The motif on the national flag of Canada is a maple leaf.
