LONGUEUIL, QC, Feb. 24, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) kicked off the 2022 sugaring season with a message: the Québec maple industry is booming. Québec's producers go out to the forest with the knowledge that demand for their products is growing in leaps and bounds. In 2021, the groundwork was laid to seize the opportunity and take measures that would continue the sector's growth by producing even more maple syrup: the addition of taps, an influx of new producers, and plans for the construction of more storage space. As the 2022 season begins, all these preparations are set to be put into action. Let the sap flow!
More Taps in Production
Decisions by the QMSP Board of Directors and the Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires du Québec (RMAAQ) cleared the way to the issuance of 7 million new taps in December. Of these, 2.9 million went to start-up operations and 3.7 million to expansions of existing maple operations. 5% of the new taps were reserved for sugar bushes on public land, as provided by the Règlement sur le contingentement des producteurs et productrices acéricoles. All new taps will enter production by 2023.
More Maple Producers
The issuance of taps to start-up operations resulted in the establishment of just over 1,200 new maple enterprises. They will be managed by 2,000 new producers, now members of the QMSP community in the 12 maple-producing regions across Québec. At this very moment, some of them are already hard at work in the sugar bush, commencing their contribution to the province's economic vitality. Those who need more time to get up and running have until 2023 to do so.
More Storage Space: A 2nd Warehouse
With sales and exports up by almost 20% in the past two years, production is increasing and so is the need to provide storage space sufficient for years to come. QMSP is planning upgrades to the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve in the Centre-du-Québec municipality of Laurierville and the construction of a second warehouse, due to begin this spring.
These are all elements of QMSP's strategic plan to achieve annual sales of 185 million pounds of maple syrup by 2023.
"The maple industry is booming and that's no exaggeration! We're very happy to now have 8,000 businesses and 13,300 producers on the job of meeting the ever-growing demand for maple syrup, here at home and in more than 60 countries around the world. Let's hope that Mother Nature is generous to us with a good flow of sap. Best wishes to all for a great 2022 season!" – QMSP President Serge Beaulieu.
Maple Production on Public Land
In 2020, QMSP objected forcefully to the Québec Timber Production Strategy put forward by the province's Ministre des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP). This policy boasted of economic revitalization by doubling the harvest of trees from our forests by 2080, but it completely overlooked the impact it would have on the maple syrup sector. In its response, QMSP stated that Québec will need 168 million taps over this 60-year period as well as a more sustainable approach to our maple forest capital.
This pressure led to the establishment of a strategic working group comprised of stakeholders in the sector. And in November, Forests, Wildlife and Parks Minister Pierre Dufour told maple producers that he planned to publish a new master plan for the development of public forests. QMSP is eager to see the new MFFP blueprint, expected this spring.
You will find the media kit for this year's sugaring season at ppaq.ca/launch2022.
About Québec Maple Syrup Producers and the Érable du Québec brand
Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) represents the interests of 13,300 men and women who proudly produce maple syrup, a symbol of Québec culture. Through investments in research, innovation, market development, and promotion, QMSP carries out its mission of developing the production and sales of Québec maple products to their full potential, at home and abroad. Accounting, on average, for 72% of the world supply of maple syrup, Québec exports this unique, tasty, and renewable product to some sixty nations.
QMSP.ca - @AcericoleQc
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