4 ms·

I always thought the reserve was odd, but it's for buyers not producers. 2019 and 2020 where record years and now their down to 6.9 million out of 133 million l

by Retric 3y ago

I always thought the reserve was odd, but it's for buyers not producers. 2019 and 2020 where record years and now their down to 6.9 million out of 133 million lb, with that kind of variability it seems like a good idea.

lupusreal 3y ago
The reserve buys from producers though, right? If the reserve buys from producers during highly productive years, that prevents the price of syrup from falling too much. It seems to serve both producers and buyers.
- morkalork 3y ago
  Yes, it should work as a buffer against shocks.
  - woleium 3y ago
    which allows places like mcdonalds to use it as the price and supply is stable
- ortusdux 3y ago
  It's a cartel. 95% of Canada's syrup comes from members of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. They manage the reserve, govern quality standards, and set the price. They also set strict quotas. https://ppaq.ca/en/our-organization/operation-and-regulations/maple-syrup-production-quotas/ https://ppaq.ca/en/our-organization/operation-and-regulation...
  - seastarer 3y ago
    Now I'm imagining submarines full of illicit maple syrup
    - goodcanadian 3y ago
      You joke, but maple syrup smuggling is a thing . . . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35028380 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35028380
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
gwern 3y ago
No, it doesn't. Maple syrup is a minor luxury, easily substituted by other things like jam or honey. Consumers are better off with lower average syrup prices, not propped up by a government cartel, even if those prices have somewhat higher variance: when the price is high, people just substitute away and eat less maple syrup, no big deal. (It's not a necessity like air or water or housing.) If the variance is a big deal for various commercial players like IHOP, then they can just deal with producers directly or someone can set up a futures market, like everything else.
- ddkto 3y ago
  > Maple syrup is a minor luxury, easily substituted by other things like jam or honey. Speaking as a Canadian, I suppose this is maybe technically true from an economic standpoint, but…we don’t even accept table syrup as a substitute, much less honey or jam. (and I’ll bet IHOP serves table, not maple, syrup…)
  - Loudergood 3y ago
    Correct, except in Vermont.
  - hervature 3y ago
    As gwern said, maple syrup is a minor luxury. My household grew up with Aunt Jemima because the extra expense could not be justified. People here saying maple syrup cannot be substituted sound as pompous as saying they only drink XXO Cognac because regular brandy just won't do.
    - derstander 3y ago
      Your analogy is flawed. Maple syrup is not to jam or honey as XXO Cognac is to regular brandy. A better analogy is that maple syrup is to jam or honey as brandy is to beer. Yeah — they have the same sort of fundamental purpose but if your recipe or drink calls for wine you probably don’t want to substitute beer or vice versa.
    - a-priori 3y ago

by Retric 3y ago

lupusreal 3y ago

The reserve buys from producers though, right? If the reserve buys from producers during highly productive years, that prevents the price of syrup from falling too much. It seems to serve both producers and buyers.

morkalork 3y ago
Yes, it should work as a buffer against shocks.
- woleium 3y ago
  which allows places like mcdonalds to use it as the price and supply is stable
ortusdux 3y ago
It's a cartel. 95% of Canada's syrup comes from members of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. They manage the reserve, govern quality standards, and set the price. They also set strict quotas. https://ppaq.ca/en/our-organization/operation-and-regulations/maple-syrup-production-quotas/ https://ppaq.ca/en/our-organization/operation-and-regulation...
- seastarer 3y ago
  Now I'm imagining submarines full of illicit maple syrup
  - goodcanadian 3y ago
    You joke, but maple syrup smuggling is a thing . . . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35028380 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35028380
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

gwern 3y ago

No, it doesn't. Maple syrup is a minor luxury, easily substituted by other things like jam or honey. Consumers are better off with lower average syrup prices, not propped up by a government cartel, even if those prices have somewhat higher variance: when the price is high, people just substitute away and eat less maple syrup, no big deal. (It's not a necessity like air or water or housing.) If the variance is a big deal for various commercial players like IHOP, then they can just deal with producers directly or someone can set up a futures market, like everything else.

ddkto 3y ago
> Maple syrup is a minor luxury, easily substituted by other things like jam or honey. Speaking as a Canadian, I suppose this is maybe technically true from an economic standpoint, but…we don’t even accept table syrup as a substitute, much less honey or jam. (and I’ll bet IHOP serves table, not maple, syrup…)
- Loudergood 3y ago
  Correct, except in Vermont.
- hervature 3y ago
  As gwern said, maple syrup is a minor luxury. My household grew up with Aunt Jemima because the extra expense could not be justified. People here saying maple syrup cannot be substituted sound as pompous as saying they only drink XXO Cognac because regular brandy just won't do.
  - derstander 3y ago
    Your analogy is flawed. Maple syrup is not to jam or honey as XXO Cognac is to regular brandy. A better analogy is that maple syrup is to jam or honey as brandy is to beer. Yeah — they have the same sort of fundamental purpose but if your recipe or drink calls for wine you probably don’t want to substitute beer or vice versa.
  - a-priori 3y ago