Gaspé and Bas-Laurentian maple syrup producers are not expecting a historic sugaring season due to the late start of the flows, but the first half of April is still proving satisfactory in the sugar bushes.
For the past seven or eight days, we have had beautiful flows with a fairly high sugar level in the water.explains the president of the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie maple syrup producers, Justin Plourde.
It allows us to catch up on the delay accumulated in March because the flows were quite timid“, he adds.
Fortunately, the persistent cold weather helps maintain the quality of the maple sap and prevents the taste of the maple syrup from becoming too full-bodied.
Currently, we are able to produce quality syrup because we have temperatures that are a little colder than average.says Justin Plourde, himself a maple syrup producer in Témiscouata.
The first half of the season is also satisfactory in terms of the volume of blond gold produced.
© Courtesy of Justin Plourde
Justin Plourde, President of Maple Syrup Producers for Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie, operates a sugar bush with 28,000 taps in Rivière-Bleue.
For his part, the owner of La maison de l’érable in Cascapédia–Saint-Jules qualifies the 2022 sugaring season usually».
Compared to my production last year, I am regarding forty barrels behind, but last year we finished on April 19“, explains Jeannot Leblanc.
© Louis Pelchat-Labelle/Radio-Canada
Jeannot Leblanc has owned the sugar bush La maison de l’érable in Cascapédia-Saint-Jules since 2015.
It was not until March 28 that the owner started boiling maple sap from the 12,500 taps.
We made fairly good quality syrup, but less than last year“, continues Mr. Leblanc. The later we start in March, the worse the quality is overall.»
Eating at the hut: a tradition difficult to maintain
The Easter weekend was an opportunity for many families to reconnect with the tradition of enjoying a traditional sugar shack meal, following two years of closure due to the health context.
In the maple groves where restaurant service is offered, demand is high. At My Cabin in Gaspésie, in Sainte-Paule, we are sold out throughout the sugaring-off season.
© Simon Turcotte/Radio-Canada
Maple groves that serve sugar shack meals are increasingly rare.
Having acquired the former Auberge de la pente abrupte in 2019, this is the first year that the company has welcomed the public for a sugar shack dinner in its reception hall. The president of My cabin in Gaspésie, Gino Ouellet, says that other maple producers have not taken the same risks in an uncertain health context.
There are several sugar shacks wondering “Are we reopening? Are we going to relive another closure to come?says Gino Ouellet. It’s a bit like that that made some open, but many remained closed. It was too uncertain as the period was coming.»
© Simon Turcotte/Radio-Canada
Gino Ouellet is president of Ma Cabane en Gaspésie, which offers traditional meals at its maple grove in Sainte-Paule.
The lack of labor also complicates the perpetuation of the tradition of sugar shack meals in the maple groves.
It requires a lot of investment, permits, kitchens… It’s something that’s not easy to make profitable, especially if it’s only open one month in the year.adds Mr. Leblanc, whose maple grove is not open to the public.
The former owner of the Maison de l’érable in Cascapédia–Saint-Jules has already organized parts of sugarin the past, but Mr. Leblanc believes that it would now be too complicated to recruit the necessary staff to receive visitors.
© Simon Turcotte/Radio-Canada
Meal preparation and customer service require the hiring of a lot of staff.
For his part, the president of the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie Maple Syrup Producers insists on the importance of recruiting up-and-coming young peoplein the maple world.
We have adapted by calling on foreign workers, but that does not meet all our needs,explains Justin Plourde.
A season that is not over
Although the maple sap harvest is already over in the south of the province, the situation is different in Eastern Quebec. According to Justin Plourde, the Gaspé and Lower Laurentian maples might still sink for two or even three weeks if Mother Nature cooperates.
Usually in the region it is easy to go in the first days of May and this year if the trend continues with cold, frost at night, rain, it is easy to go to May 5-6-7“, believes the president of the regional association of maple syrup producers.
© Louis Pelchat-Labelle/Radio-Canada
Cold weather produces a syrup with a milder taste. The warmer the weather, the stronger the taste of the syrup becomes.
Last year, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie recorded the best rate of return in the provincewith a production of 3.32 pounds of syrup per tap.
In 2021, Quebec maple syrup producers produced 133 million pounds of syrup, a 25% drop from the record year of 2020.
