Maple Milk Makes Its Debut! Huge Success!
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Fall 2018 Vol. 1 No. 3 Maple Milk makes its debut! Huge success! our association takes the mission of creating markets for NY Maple to heart. To that end, we are always tryingY to think of new ways to introduce Real Maple as an ingredient in foods that manufacturers will want to make and sell. One idea we had this year was, “Why not Maple Milk?” There are other flavored milks that sell with great success. Dairy and Maple are two significant New York crops, so we felt it was worth exploring. With the assistance of marketing support funds from the NYS legislature and Department of Agriculture and Markets we arranged for the Cornell Dairy Food Processing & Development Lab to develop a recipe for maple milk which we would then test at various public events during the Fair season. In addition to the Dairy lab, Steve Childs of the Cornell Maple Program provided both the maple syrup and expertise to help the experiment along. We tried this out first at the NYS Capital on Agriculture Day in June. We had just one recipe, and about 5 gallons of milk. The legislative staffers loved it! We were the most popular commodity table at the event, and the samples were gone before the two- hour event was over. This encouraged us to move forward with a broader experiment. Initially, eight different recipes were created. All were done by adding the maple to the milk first, then pasteurizing. There were varying amounts of syrup and milk butterfat in the eight samples. All used Dark Color Robust Taste maple syrup. The first consumer tests were done at the Erie County Fair. By sampling several hundred consumers over the course of a 12-hour day, we determined the two most remaining days of the fair we sampled at the and for marketing to your local dairy. popular recipes. We then had the Cornell Maple Display in the Horticulture building. We encourage you to seek out small local dairy make 25 gallons each of the two Several thousand people sampled over dairies and try to interest them in making finalists. Upper Hudson sampled the two the course of the Fair. The most common Maple Milk. We will make the recipe and blends at the Washington County Fair. reaction was, “This is great – Where can I nutritional analysis information available The response from the public was buy it?” It is not exaggerating to say that the to any member upon request. We expect enthusiastic. The big test was at the New number of people who did not like it were the nutritional analysis to be completed by York State Fair – Maple Day was the kickoff less than 1%. mid-December, if not sooner. If you are of sampling the milk to the public, with Members can have the recipe and the interested, please contact Helen Thomas at several locations around the fair. For the nutritional analysis for their personal use, the association office. A Message from our President ello all you maple producers! What a weather-crazed summer and fall we’ve had. First, we had super-hot, humid summer days and then tons or rain to wrap things up. My maple leaves in the Catskills didn’t have much color or Hlast long. I can’t tell you how next year’s season is going to be, but it’s up to us to sell New York State Maple as much of that golden liquid as we can! Late fall is a great time to clean and straighten Producers Association, Inc. up your sugarhouses. Before you know it, it’s hunting season leading to Christmas. Board of Directors It’s a busy time of year. Tony VanGlad, President It’s almost time for the NYS Maple Conference! This year the Board is super excited Stamford, 607-652-3424 to change venues. We will be at the NYS Fairgrounds in the Horticulture building! We are very happy to have Keith Schiebel on board as coordinator for this event! Karl Wiles, Treasurer Syracuse, 315-559-7630 He brings experience and new ideas to the event. A special thanks goes out to Steve Childs, our Cornell maple expert. Steve sets up the different educational seminars and workshops at the conference. I hope Mandi Burnison, Secretary everyone signs up – it’s January 4th (evening) and 5th. Register early and save money. Attica, [email protected] At the NYSMPA Board meeting, we were briefed on the NYS Fair booth. Sales were down slightly Michael Grottoli due to the super-hot, humid weather as well as the overall attendance at the Fair was down, too. A big Middle Granville, 518-642-2856 thank you to all who helped at the booth. Dave Schiek and his crew did an excellent job! As always, Dwayne Hill please consider helping next year. There was also much discussion at the Board meeting on maple milk at Harpersfield, 607-652-6792 the Fair booth. Directors want to encourage dairies to produce a maple milk that would be available to Michael Bennett the public in their local stores. Glens Falls, 518-222-4990 In the last Pipeline I mentioned the federal Acer grant we applied for. Grants were awarded over the Hugh Newton Potsdam, 315-265-7397 summer but unfortunately NYSMPA did not get it. But good news, Cornell did receive funding. Eric Randall In closing, I hope everyone had a happy, healthy summer and have a great holiday season! See you at Alexander, 585-547-3596 the conference in Syracuse at the NYS Fairgrounds! Nadeen Lyndaker Lowville, 315-346-6829 Tony Van Glad Scott St. Mary President NYSMPA Malone, 518-483-6270 Douglas Thompson Gouverneur, 315-287-0024 Don Weed HELP US KEEP YOU INFORMED! Moravia, 315-497-3480 We send frequent emails to the entire membership to let you know of things happening in Haskell Yancey Croghan, 315-346-6356 the maple world. The latest emails were about Maple Weekend and the Winter Conference. Greg Zimpfer Attica, 585 591-1190 IF YOU DID NOT GET THEM, do the following: Joy Herfurth Send an email to [email protected]. This will tell us your current email address. It’s possible Ellenburg Center, 518-569-5146 that our records may need to be updated! Check your spam for [email protected] and [email protected]. We use these two email addresses to send you the latest news. If your Office spam filter has them blocked, you will not receive our communications. Helen Thomas, Executive Director [email protected] 301 Myron Road Syracuse, New York 13219 315-877-5795 Fax: 315-488-0459 www.NYSMaple.com Produced by Zoey Advertising 936 N. Clinton Street Syracuse, NY 13204 (315) 471-7700 zoeyadvertising.com [email protected] 2 THE PIPELINE | nysmaple.com | FALL 2018 The Age of Social Media hese days, just about everyone is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. TTry walking through a crowded place and not seeing multiple faces buried in their phones (you know they’re checking their last Facebook post). And it’s not just the “younger generation” – people young and old alike are liking this or sharing that online. In fact, per Statista.com, 78% of the U.S. population had a social media account in 2016! Welcome to the age of social media. Although this may make family dinners a little less social as your sister snaps a picture of the Thanksgiving turkey rather than making small talk with the fam, this is GOOD NEWS for your business! Think about this - you have the opportunity to reach 78% of the U.S. population by getting your business out there for all to see. Try using that to your advantage by building an audience • If you’re a Maple Weekend participant, social media is and therefore, make some sales! a GREAT way for your customers to get excited for those Here are some tips to help boost your social media presence: magical weekends in March! Tell your potential visitors what fun they can expect to have at your sugarhouse and encourage • Create a business Facebook page (or Instagram, Twitter, them to post their own pictures after the event. etc.), not a personal one (technically Facebook business pages do need to be “attached” to a personal account though). • Stick with it – you want to monitor your page often. If your This presents more options and will also show you statistics followers are commenting or messaging you, engage with your like engagement – including how many people your posts are audience. It’s important to acknowledge them in a timely manner. reaching and if your posts are being shared. You can also pay to • Get in the game. Like other social media pages such as the “boost” posts to reach a wider footprint, should you choose. NYS Maple Facebook page for ideas and to stay informed on • Be present! Posting often is going to keep your audience’s all things maple! attention. Don’t post every day during maple season and then Have fun with your social media and show the world what die off until the following March. We all know the job of a maple is all about! sugarmaker isn’t just during the first few months of the year – keep your audience up to date on everything you do throughout the rest of the year as well. Adding tubing? Going to a farmer’s market? Tell your adoring fans and give them a behind the scenes look! • The content of your post is key! Make it interesting. Posts with video or pictures will surely get more attention that just wording.