Expanding Agriculture Opportunities through Exporting: The Maple Syrup Initiative

As part of an initiative with Congressman Joe Courtney to support local industries, our office is investigating new niche agriculture markets in Connecticut that could increase their sales through exporting.  After initial research, it was determined that maple syrup could be a market in Connecticut that could be significantly developed, creating new opportunities within the state, through exporting.  Due to the nature of the product in Connecticut, it is typically produced by various small businesses and families.  In order to see if there are sustainable amounts of maple syrup to support exporting, we need to determine the production level of the maple syrup industry in Connecticut.  While we do have the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s yearly statistics on production levels in New England, we are trying to locate maple syrup producers of all sizes throughout the state (from family tappers to full scale operators) to determine their individual production capacities now and in the future.

We would appreciate if you would either contact us if you are a producer or are involved in the maple syrup industry in Connecticut, and inform producers in your area about our initiative and ask them to contact us directly.  We will ask each producer to notify us on how many trees they tap, and their past couple of years maple syrup yield.

Emily Halle has been designated as the contact point in our office on this initiative.  Emily can be reached by phone at (860) 638-6950 or by e-mail at Emily.Halle@N0SPAM.trade.gov . 

We look forward to working with you on this innovative project and helping Connecticut families and businesses take advantage of opportunities in their own backyards.