Search Site   
Current News Stories
Solar eclipse, new moon coming April 8
Mystery illness affecting dairy cattle in Texas Panhandle
Teach others to live sustainably
Gun safety begins early
Hard-cooked eggs recipes great for Easter, anytime
Michigan carrot producers to vote on program continuation
Suggestions to celebrate 50th wedding anniversary
USDA finalizes new ‘Product of the USA’ labeling rule 
U.S. weather outlooks currently favoring early planting season
Weaver Popcorn Hybrids expanding and moving to new facility
Role of women in agriculture changing Hoosier dairy farmer says
   
News Articles
Search News  
   

Maple syrup hobby grows to fiscally sweet family business

 

 

By CINDY LADAGE

Illinois Correspondent

 

TANTALLON, Nova Scotia — Not far from Peggy’s Cove, possibly the most photographed place in Nova Scotia, sits Acadian Maple Products. Brian Allaway and his family own and run the business that he said began as a hobby in the backyard.

"Our son, William, wanted to turn the hobby into a business, so we bought property back in 2003," he said.

The family hobby began in spring 1982 when Allaway wished to provide an educational experience for the children and wished to re-live a childhood experience. Allaway tapped a dozen backyard trees and boiled the sap in a flat bottom pan over an open fire. His children, Cara and Brian William, helped with the collection of the sap. Allaway shares this information with visitors and has a picture of this image on hand.

Brian Allaway’s wife, Simonne, tended the fire. It was a true family endeavor. That first spring, enough pure maple syrup was produced to satisfy the family needs with a little extra to give away. The hobby was a hit and over the next few years, the Allaway family tapped more trees and developed their first evaporator from a 45-gallon drum.

In time, they had a large enough surplus of syrup that a local store owner purchased some. He ran out within a week.

"The store wanted more," Allaway said. "Having already sold the entire year’s yield, it was necessary to secure the first purchase of bulk syrup from an established maple producer. Four, one gallon cans of pure maple syrup were bought and shipped to our residence on the bus. With this, Acadian Maple was born."

The business was so successful that the tourist trade started stopping by on a regular basis. "When the tour operators wanted to stop, we built a retail shop (along with their production area) on Peggy’s Cove. We started out with around 70 tour buses, and now we have hit 300."

Brian’s wife Simonne is Acadian, so that is where the Acadian portion of the name comes from. Acadian is the name for the French who settled in Nova Scotia.

The family has been involved in the maple industry in Nova Scotia for more than 30 years, and they have grown enough that Acadian Maple is the largest purchaser and processor of Nova Scotia-produced maple syrup.

"We export to markets worldwide. We just finished bottling a container to go to Ireland and Scotland," Allaway explained to a group of travel writers brought to the province by the Nova Scotia tourism board.

"We are constantly developing new products. Acadian Maple continues to grow. An agritourism center in the Upper Tantallon location along with a retail shop sees in excess of 30,000 visitors a year. We bottle 4,000 to 6,000 liters a week and supply large grocery store chains and restaurants."

Allaway said the production of maple syrup can be expensive because "sap is 98 percent water and 2 percent sugar. The industry standard for syrup is 66 percent sugar."

The syrups are graded by the color of the syrup. The color of the syrup Allaway said depends on the time of the year. "The darker the syrup, the stronger the flavor, Nova Scotians like dark syrup and use it to make baked beans."

Allaway said that initially settlers learned about using sap from the native population. "Indians and pioneers boiled sap and got a hard block of maple sugar that would keep for 12 months. They would break off sugar. That is where the term ‘sugar shack’ came from."

"There are 75 varieties of maple trees. Sugar maple is the best. The sugar maple leaf adorns our flag," Allaway added. "A tree has to be 50 to 75 years old before you start tapping them. They grow wild in the woods. We lease land or rent."

The family has to rely on extra trees; they don’t have enough for the large production required. This family business includes everyone. William had the idea to start the business and their daughter Cara is a CPA who works behind the scenes.

Today, Acadian Maple Products makes a full range of maple, blueberry and cranberry items. With expanding taste for gourmet foods, they now offer such things as maple syrup, maple butter (spread), maple cream (fudge), maple candy (soft and hard), maple BBQ sauce, a line of maple and fruit jams, bulk maple sugar, maple roasted peanuts, brittle, gourmet maple coffee, blueberry syrup, blueberry maple sauce, blueberry vinegar (used as a salad dressing), cranberry mince, chutneys and marmalades.

"Our plant now processes and packs in excess of 225,000 pounds of pure maple syrup a year," Allaway concluded. "We also process and ship thousands of pounds of locally made maple cream, butter and candies."

To learn more about Acadian Maple, visit www.acadianmaple.com

7/30/2014