Schuler, Leland

Sherman, Ralph W.

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MM-200 ~~~~J I ~~ --MAPLE SIRUP MARKETING IN GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Agricultural Economics and Rura I Sociology 162 / 2M Departmental Series A. E. 327 THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COOPERATING WITH THE U . S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AG RIC ULT URAL EXT ENS ION SERVICE, W. B . WOOD, DIR EC TOR, COLUMBUS, OHIO DISTRIBUTED IN FURTHERANCE OF ACTS OF MAY 8 AND JUNE 30 , 1914 MAPLE SIRUP MARi~TI1G IN GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO * Leland Schuler and R. W. Sherman INTRODUCTION Production of maple sirup and maple suear in the United States historically has been concentrated in parts of New England and the Great Lakes States. The development of ce.ne and beet sugar production in the United States was accompanied by the aL'Tiost complete disappear-ance of maple sue;ar and sirup production areas in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois and midwestern states other than a few bordering on the Great Lakes. Commercial production is limited to 10 states at the present time. Ohio is one of them. Statistics relative to United States production, price and imports are shown for selected years in Table I. Declining importance of United States production and the increasing importance of imports is clearly evident. Production and imports available for consumption has varied from .47 pounds per capita of maple sugar equivRlent in 1918 to as low as .l2 pounds during some recent years. These per capita figures indicate a significant downward trend in per capita use of these products. How-ever the use of cane and beet sugars increased from 74.1 pounds per capita in 1918 to 98.1 pounds in 1958. * Leland Schuler - Geauga County Extension Agent, Agriculture R. W. Sherman - Professor, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. TABLE I MAPLE SUGAR AND SIRUP PRODUCTION, TREES TAPPED, AVERAGE PRICE RECEIVED BY FARMERS, AND D1PORTS, U. S. SELECTED YEARS, 1918-58 Production Price Imports for Avg. Total Consumption Trees Total Production Per Per Year Tapped Sugar Sirup Product Per Tree Pound Gallon Sugar2 Sirup3 in Tenns As As of of of Sugar Suga.rl Sirupl Sugar Sirup Thousand Thousand Thousand Thousand Pounds Gallons Cents Dollars Thousand Thousand Trees Pounds Gallons Pounds Pounds Pmmds 1918 17,053 11,383 4,141 44,511 2.61 0.33 -- -- 3,8o7 --14 1922 15,198 5,227 3,310 32,18·7 2.12 o.26 -- --3,201 1926 13,948 3,585 3,5o4 31,617 2.27 0.28 29.3 $2.12 3,446 203 1930 13,158 2,134 3,712 31,830 2.42 0.30 30.2 2.03 9,735 l,575 1934 12,099 1,044 2,444 20,596 1.70 0.21 24.9 1.33 2,976 1,316 1938 ll,38o 705 2,770 22,865 2.01 0.25 28.4 1.61 3,946 39 1942 lO,o46 56o 2,987 24,456 2.43 0.30 37.7 2.26 7,121 4,791 1946 8,257 310 1,351 11,118 1.35 0.17 65.5 3.30 4,207 2,221 1950 8,146 257 2,024 16,449 2.02 0.25 77.8 4.13 6,5lJ.9 5,282 1954 6,391 132 1,656 13,445 2.09 o.26 87.1 4.63 6,643 4,096 1958 5,075 51 1,191 9,528 1.88 0.23 (5) 4.48 6,006 7,235 lAssuming that 1 gallon of sirup is equivalent to 8 pounds of sugar. 2rncludes maple sirup through September 21, 1922. 3A gallon of sirup weighs a.bout 11 pounds. 4Included with maple sugar through September 21, 1922. 5No longer reported separately. Source: Agricultural Statistics, 1952 and 1956 (46, 89) Sugar Situation, A.M.S., March, 1960, P. 37- l\l 3 TABLE II MAPLE SUGAR AND SIRUP PRODUCTION, IMPORTS AND APPARENT PER CAPITA CONSUMPI'ION IN U. s. SELEX:!TED YEARS, 1918-1958 U.S. Production Imports In Apparent Year In Sugar Sugar Percent Per Capita Equivalent Equivalent Imported Consumption Sugar Equivalent Thousand Thousand Potmds Pounds Pounds 1918 41+,511 3,8o7 7.9 .47 1922 32,187 3,201 9.0 .32 1926 31,617 3,594 10.2 .30 1930 31,830 10,880 25.5 • 35 1934 20,596 3,928 16.o .19 1938 22,865 3,974 14.8 .21 1942 24,456 l0,6o5 30.2 .26 1946 11,118 5,823 34.4 .12 1950 16,449 10,390 38.7 .18 1954 13,445 9,622 41.7 .14 1958 9,528 11,268 54.2 .12 4 Table II presents both U. S. production and imports as well as per capita. use!/ from 1913 to 1958 by selected yea.rs. With the decline in United States production as shown in Table II, it is of interest to examine the trend of production in some of the most important producing states. Table III shows this for the period 1935 to 1957 inclusive for 8 states. While Ohio's recent production has fallen to less than half the volume in the late 1930's, it still has remained the third most impor-tant state except in 1957 when Ohio ranked fourth. Ohio has ranked either third or fourth in production since 1850 except in 1900 when it ranked first. Most of the production of maple sirup and maple sugar in Ohio is concentrated in Northeastern Ohio. Well over one third of the total Ohio production is from Geauga County. At one time this county held the distinction of having the most intensive sugar bush operation per square mile of any area in the United States. The purpose of this study is to determine the selling practices used by Geauga County n:aple sirup producers. The remainder of this pub-lication will be devoted to this. PART I MARKETilJG PRACTICES Maple sirup produced in Geauga County finds its way into the market through both wholesale end retail channels. Sales at retail were partly y Assuming no carryover. 5 TABLE III ANNUAL !·lAPLE SIR~ AND suGARl PRODUCTION BY STATES' 1935-1957 , IN THOUSANDS OF GALLONS Ver- New New Year mont York Ohio Penn. Bich. Wis. Hamp. Mass. Me. Md. 1935 1,613 l o4'> 306 174 100 83 112 88 49 18 ' _, 1936 999 769 342 110 99 69 51 36 29 21 1937 1,000 679 402 163 101 74 69 76 38 37 1938 1,563 620 284 100 66 49 92 56 48 27 1939 954 750 371 134 106 106 61 66 34 26 1940 1,103 803 333 ll6 75 104 65 62 51 25 1941 783 616 254 ll6 97 34 51 61 18 13 1942 1,350 955 178 133 104 90 71 67 28 19 1943 l,ll6 854 193 98 135 48 69 69 28 16 1944 983 851 28o 136 168 50 6o 64 21 24 1945 369 283 136 55 82 23 26 25 10 ll 1946 639 449 8o 46 63 28 37 39 11 ll 1947 801 690 160 92 142 66 52 44 18 10 1948 637 434 lll 63 81 48 40 31 12 15 1949 578 541 150 97 112 59 42 41 12 17 1950 888 511 150 117 94 105 67 56 34 14 1951 74o 471 130 101 99 80 59 55 20 12 1952 671 419 145 105 ll6 66 56 35 30 14 1953 487 278 126 86 78 82 49 33 16 15 1954 680 425 123 124 94 75 58 47 18 20 1955 634 496 ll3 104 72 58 48 55 13 ll 1956 6o6 431 153 ll4 65 77 50 48 11 12 19573 819 503 91 82 70 ll9 65 47 18 9 Total 120,009 14 ,200 l~ ,611 2,466 2,219 1,593 1,350 1,201 567 397 Avg. 870 617 200 107 96 69 59 53 25 17 lsugar converted to nearest gallon of sirup based on 8 pounds per gallon. 2source: Agricultural Statistics, U.8.D.A., 1937-1958. 3]:stima:ted. · 6 on egg routes operated by producers through the East Cleveland Farmers Market, at roadside stands, by rriail order and dj_rectly from the producer's home. Volume throu3;!1 ea.ch of these was not determined but in total 56.2 percent of the sirup was disposed of through these outlets in 1959. At wholesale, some producers sell to stores direct, some to maple sirup dealers in both bulk and cans, some to other producers who need it for their retail outlets, some to the Geauga Festival, and some to the Burton Chamber of Commerce. The Burton Log Cabin Chamber of Commerce Operation Burton, Ohio, has the only municipally owned and operated sugar ca.mp in the North American continent. This sugar camp is operated wholly under the auspices of the Burton Chamber of Commerce. During the maple sirup season, the quaint old log c1'lhin in the park will be seen nearly encircled by travelers' cars from far and near. Route 87 is not a ma.in transportation artery into Cleveland. However, the attraction of this log cabin operation has drawn thousands of visitors each year into Burton. Those who are interested ma:y see maple sirup in the mak-ing from about the third week in February to the second week in April. The evaporators are hand fired with wood, and maple cream and sugar are stirred to the delight of a.11 who witness it. The sales room in the log cabin is crowded each weekend by consumers waiting to purchase their supply of maple pro-ducts. Visitors from many distant states are not uncommon each week of operation. A further point of interest for visitors on the weekends in Burton include the pancake, sausage, and maple sirup break-fasts and dinners served by the Rotary Club and Fire Depart-ment on Sundays. The Geauga County Historical Society in Burton also opens its own building filled with valuable collec-tions and maintain an old fashioned country store. There is a lot for visitors to see a. Sunday a:fternoon in the maple season. one reason the town literally bursts at over the weekends. The Geauga. County Maple Festival in Chardon and do in Burton on This is undoubtedly the seaJ11s for room The Geauga County Maple Festival was first conceived in 1926 by A. B. Carlson, a Chardon hardware dealer. The festi-val is primarily a maple sirup promotion program based on the romance and tradition of maple sirup production in Geauga County. The Maple Festival is usually timed to approximate the close of the maple sirup season. It has been found that interest in maple sirup products usually falls off rapidly a:fter the Festival has been held. The Festival was held in 1961 on April 7, 8, and 9· at Chardon. The Festival Board of Directors operates the enterprise as a non-profit corporation. There are about forty directors of the corporation, all of whom reside in Geauga County. F.a.ch of these individuals contributes his time to preparing and planning for the Maple Festival during the year. The Board of Directors elects a slate of officers at its annual meeting, and this executive committee holds regular meetings throughout the year. PART II SALES BY REPRESENTATIVE GEAUGA COUNTY PRODUCERS 1 This study is based on information obtained from 52 Geauga County sirup producers concerning their production and marketing for 1959· Table IV presents production information concerning these producers classified by number of sap buckets hung in 1959. Pa.st history of production by these 52 producers was not deter-mined. However, the production record of one farm for which records were available from 1884 to 1954 is shown in Table V. 8 PRODUCTION OF r.:f>J'LE SIRUP BY 52 PRODUCERS OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, 1959 Buckets m.r.:1ber of Sirup Produced Group Hung Producers Total Per Producer Per Bucket I 200- 799 12 1,522 127 .24 II Boo- 999 9 2,346 261 .29 III 1000-1199 9 2,473 275 .27 IV 1200-2h99 11~ 5,000 357 .25 v 2500-4800 8 6,790 849 .26 Total o.nd Aver?.ges 52 18,131 349 .26 TABLE V MAPLE SIRUP PRODUCTION OF ONE FARM IN GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, 1884-1954 Price Sirup Received Year Buckets Produced Per Hune (Gallon) Gallon 1884 175 88 $ 0.75 1889 267 100 0.70 1894 300 125 1.00 1899 310 212 1.00 1904 318 179 1.00 1909 hoo 445 1.10 1914 550 18o 1.17 1919 6oo 325 2.25 1924 700 403 2.25 1929 84o 260 2.25 1934 1200 260 1.50 1939 116o 412 2.00 1944 1000 579 3. 35 1949 750 274 5.00 1954 500 171 5.00 9 This table indicates that the owner of this farm has realized between $40,000 and $50,000 since 1884 from maple sirup sales or an average per year between $600 and $700. Highest income for years shown was $1939.65 in 191~4. U. S. Government grades and standards for maple sirup have been established and price differentials for Ohio producer have been rather wide between Grade A and the lower grades. The average price received by the 52 producers included in this study was $5.64 for Grade A and Fancy and $3.15 for the lower grades. Grade labeling of maple sirup is voluntary in Ohio, and very few producers in Geauga Cotmty and Ohio use grade labels on their product. Table VI shows the production of the 52 producers by grades of sirup. Group I II III IV v Total TABLE VI PRODUCTION OF MAPLE SIR UP, BY GRADE, BY 52 PRODUCERS OF GF.AUGA COUNTY, OHIO, 1959 Fancy and Grade B Grade A Or Lower Total (Gallons) (Gallons) (Gallons) 1,401 121 1,522 1,830 516 2,346 2,267 206 2,473 4,517 483 5,000 6,481 309 6,790 16,496 1,635 18,131 Grade B Or Lower (Percent) 8.6 21.9 8.3 9.7 4.6 9.0 10 With only 9 percent of production as Grade B or lower, the average price in 1959 was 22.4 cents lower than if all sirup had been graded Fancy or A. Prices received by grade through various outlets are shown in Table VII. TABLE VII AVERAGE PRICES RECEIVED PER GALLON FROM SALE OF MAPLE SIRUP BY 52 PRODlJCERS OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, 1959 Outlet Retail: Mail Order Local Sales Wholesale: Direct to Stores Dealers, Cans Dealers, Bullt Weighted Average Fancy and Grade A $7.27 5.99 6.46 5.35 3.82 5.64 Grade B And Lower $ --4. 94 3.50 3.o4 3.15 Other $ 2.31 2.31 Average income from sales during 1959 amounted to $1616 per farm. Income ranged from $300 to a high of $6500 for the 52 producers. Over 3 percent of production was used at home and almost 6 percent was held over for sale in 196o. Disposition of the 1959 production by the 52 producers is shown in Table VIII. Volume of production had but little relation to method of sale except when comparing the groups of highest and lowest production. The group with lowest production disposed of a higher percent of their pro-duction at wholesale than other groups and less at retail. Producers with the highest production disposed of more than twice as much at ll TABLE VIII DISPOSITION OF 1959 MAPLE SIRUP PRODmED BY 52 GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, PRODmERS Group Sold at Retail Sold at Wholesale Home Use Carried Over Gallon Percent Gallon Percent Gallon Percent Gallon Percent I 669 44.o 690 45.3 153 10.0 100 0.7 II 1,319· 56.3 88o 37.5 111 4.7 36 1.5 III l,5o6 6o.9 873 35.3 73 2.9 21 0.9 IV 2,776 55.5 1,962 39.2 161 3.2 101 2.0 v 3,920 57.7 1,884 27.8 112 1.6 874 12.9 Total 10,190 56.2 6,289 34.7 610 3.4 1,042 5.7 retail as at wholesale and also carried over almost 13 percent of the year's production. The purpose of the carryover being that of ma.king sure they would have sirup for regular customers the next year. Home use (including gi:f'ts) of sirup averaged ll.5 gallons per producer with practically all producers using at least 8 gallons for the year. Wholesale Outlets From the total production of 18,131 gallons produced by the 52 pro-ducers in 1959, a little over a third or 6,289 gallons was sold through 'Wholesale channels. The importance of each of these outlets is shown in Table IX which shows percent of the sirup sold at wholesale going through each channel. Practically all Grade B sirup went through whole-sale channels. Containers TABLE IX PERCENT OF WHOLESALE SALES, BY SPECIFIED OU'I'Lm', OF SIRUP PRODUCED BY 52 GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, PRODTXERS IN 1959 Grades Fancy And Grade B Outlet Grade A Or Less Total Percent Percent Store Sales 16.9 16.9 Local Dealers 26.4 14.4 40.8 Large Producers 5.1 5.1 Geauga. Festival 13.3 13.3 Burton Chamber of Commerce 11.1 11.l Undetennined 8.o 4.8 12.8 Total 8o.8 19.2 100.0 12 The 52 Geauga Cou.~ty producers sold their sirup through outlets as shown in Table VII. Bulk sales were in drums belonging to purchasers. The remainder of sales was in tin cans and glass containers of several sizes. Percentage of sales through bulk and through glass and tin cans is shown in Table X. TABLE X PERCENT OF SALES OF MAPLE SIRUP AND SUGAR BY TYPE OF CONTAINER BY 52 GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, PRODTXERS, 1959 Group Driuns Tin Cans Glassware Sugar Sales Percent Percent Percent Percent I 42.7 52.7 4.6 II 34.o 65.8 0.2 III 19.9 8o.1 IV 22.6 72.8 4.o o.6 v 5.5 87.5 5.5 1.5 All Groups 18.8 76.9 3.6 0.7 The difference in price received by producers for sirup in cans compared to bulk in drums was $1.53 per gallon. Group V - those pro-ducers with an average production of 849 gallons in 1959 - sold 8o per-cent of their wholesale volume in cans while only 5 percent of the sirup disposed of at wholesale by the small producers in Group I was in cans. Information concerning amount of sirup disposed of in each type and size of container was obtained from 32 of the 52 producers. This is shown in Table XI. In a study "Ohio Maple Sirup -- Some Factors Influencing Produc-tion"!/ it was found that in 1946-1949, 86 percent of the sirup sales by 60 Northeast Ohio producers was sold in gallon tin cans, 4.4 percent in half-gallon cans, 0.6 percent in quart cans, 0.3 percent in one pound glass jars and 8.7 percent in bulk. Data were furnished by the 52 producers in the 1959 study sample fran which it was possible to determine most usual price received at retail for the various units and cost of containers. These facts and the gross return per gallon of sirup a~er subtracting cost of con-tainers are shown in Table XII. Labor costs of filling various sizes of containers were not determined precisely but the concensus of pro-ducer estimates was that 3 minutes were required for filling gallon cans, 4 minutes for 2 half-gallon cans, 8 minutes for 4 one quart units and 10 minutes for 8 pint containers. No labor costs were subtracted in arriving at the gross return per gallon. '!:/ Ohio Agricultural Ex:periment Station Bulletin 718. TABLE XI SALE OF MAPLE SIRUP BY 32 GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO, PRODO:.::ERS BY TYPE AND SIZE OF CONTAINER, 1959 Type and Number of Sales Size of Producers Gallon Container Using Equivalent Percent Bulk (Drums) 22 3,187.50 24.9 Gallon Tin Cans 29 5,667.00 44.3 ~ Gallon Tin Cans 25 2,197.00 17.2 Quart Tin Cans 17 1,251.00 9.8 Smaller Tin Cans 3 20.12 .2 Quart Glass Bottles 1 39.00 .3 Pint Glass Bottles 3 112.00 .9 ~ Pint Glass Bottles 1 165.75 1.3 Smaller Glass Bottles 1 15.25 .1 Maple Cream and Sugar 1 126.75 1.0 15 TABLE XII CONTAINER COSTS AND COMPUTED REI'URNS PER GAL.LOH FOR FANCY Al\lD GRADE A MAPLE SIRUP RETAILED BY GF.AUGA COUNTY, OHIO, PROD'OCERS, 1959 Retail Gallon Container Costs Return Per Container Unit Price Per Per Gallon Less Price Equivalent Unit Gallon Container Cost Gallon-Tin $6.oo $6.00 $0.31 $0.31 $5.69 -!- Gallon-Tin 3.25 6.50 0.26 0.52 5.98 Qua.rt-Tin 1.75 7.00 0.20 o.80 b.20 Pint-Tin 1.00 8.00 0.18 1.44 6.56 Quart-Glass 1. 75 7.00 0.16 o.64 6.36 Pint-Glass 0.90 7.20 0.10 o.8o 6.40 l2 oz.-Glass 0.75 8 oz.-Gla.ss o.6o Maple Cream and Sugar 1 pound unit 1.50 12.00 0.05 o.4o ll.6o 16 Based on data in Table XII producers received about 37 cents per gallon for the extra labor involved in filling and selling containers of half-gallon capacity or less compared to returns for sirup in gallon cans. MAIL ORDER SALF.s Mail order sales by the 52 producers amounted to 1.6 percent of the total sales. In addition to these sales by producers were mail order sales by the Kiwanis Clubs of Geauga. County, the Geauga County Maple Festival and the Burton Chamber of Cormnerce. Volume sold by these three organizations by mail was not determined but was estimated to be greater than that by the producers. A 1953 study of sales by ·" 253 producers in Vermont showed that more than 20 percent was sold by mail order. Average gross return for mail order sales wa.s $7.27 per gallon which was $1. 28 higher than for local retail sales. The average carton cost was 12 cents per gallon. Mailing charges were usua.lly paid by the buyer. 

Maple Syrup Marketing in Geauga County, Ohio

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Maple Syrup Marketing in Geauga County, Ohio

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