Maple Valley Cooperative is a co-op of fifteen maple syrup producers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, and Vermont, as well as one partner-member on the East Coast. The co-op also has members who are customers, investors, and employees. The co-op’s mission is “To produce and market organic maple products through fair and sustainable methods, respecting producers (farmers), customers, investors, employees, the land, and our communities.”
Individually, the maple farmers taps their trees in the spring, collecting sap and transporting it to the on-farm “sugar shack,” where it is boiled down to syrup. The syrup is then sent to the co-op’s commercial kitchen facilities, where it is inspected, filtered, and tested. Then an artisan bottler blends the different syrups to attain the desired color and flavor, and the syrups are bottled, packed, and shipped to stores. The co-op provides the infrastructure necessary to sell the syrup far and wide. Because the farmers own the co-op, they aren’t losing income to a middleman. The co-op also provides stability for the farmers: Each year’s harvest is highly dependent on the weather, as temperatures must be warm in the daytime and cold at night for sap to flow. The co-op ensures that stores receive a steady supply of syrup even if some farms have a slow year.
The co-op’s organic standards guarantee that each farmer is following certain guidelines: for example, no chemicals are sprayed in the forests (on trees or on weeds and roadways), a buffer is maintained between maple trees and non-organic fields, forest health is maintained by not overtapping trees or damaging the ecosystem, and equipment and facilities are cleaned without chemicals. Many syrup producers use defoamer or animal fat during evaporation, but Maple Valley producers use only organic vegetable oil. This assures us that the final product, although it came from several farms, is pure and natural, as well as certified Kosher and vegan.