About

QMSP and Maple from Canada Australia

Maple from Canada Australia is the official Aussie website and brand for Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP).

Québec supplies 72% of the world’s maple syrup and is home to more than 13,300 maple syrup producers. In addition to this, 59% of Australians state that they have consumed 100% pure, Canadian maple syrup.

Founded in 1966, QMSP represents these producers and works to regulate prices and quality and negotiate fair trade deals, as well as promoting maple products on an international stage.

The natural choice

Each year in Canada, deep in the forests of Québec, a remarkable natural event takes place as maple sap, frozen solid over the long, cold winter, starts to thaw… and the maple tapping season begins.

Thousands of producers collect the sap from maple trees and boil the liquid to make pure maple syrup, a 100% natural sweetener with a high-quality taste and a versatile range of uses.

Unrefined, unprocessed and free from artificial additives or flavourings, pure Canadian maple syrup is ideal for barbecues, brunches, and baking to bring the flavour of the Great White North’s secret ingredient to the Southern Hemisphere.

Maple syrup comes in four different styles and colours, depending on when in the tapping season it is harvested – each one has its own characteristics and taste.

Products

While we all know and love the sweet, sticky syrup on our pancakes, there’s a whole world of maple out there, ready and waiting to be discovered.

Did you know that there are speciality maple products that you can get your hands on, other than the syrup?

Maple sugar – Maple sugar can be used as a direct replacement for granulated sugar, icing sugar or fruit sugar. It’s perfect for both sweet and savoury dishes- or for tea or coffee.

Maple flakes – Maple flakes are made by freeze-drying (dehydrating) maple syrup. Get creative and try them with barbecued meats, in baking or even in cocktails.

Maple taffy – Maple taffy is made by boiling maple syrup then cooling it down rapidly to produce a toffee-like consistency. In Quebec they traditionally make this outside, directly on fresh snow!

Maple spread – Maple spread is a creamy spread produced by boiling, cooling then stirring maple sap. It’s great in desserts, on pancakes, and French toast. It also doesn’t contain butter or dairy, so is 100% vegan.

How maple syrup is made

Pure Canadian maple syrup comes from a unique natural process which occurs every year during spring.

After the cold winter when the forests start to thaw, the frozen maple sap moves back down towards the base of the tree, where it can be tapped, and the sap is collected in buckets. Tapping season typically lasts for four to six weeks, taking place between March and April.

Once the sap has been harvested, it’s off to a sugar shack to be boiled down to make maple syrup. It takes about 40 litres of sap to make just one litre of syrup.

The history of maple

Legend has it that the story of maple started with a squirrel. Yes – really!

Many centuries ago, during a period of food scarcity, a Native American noticed a squirrel full of energy. He watched the animal drink “water” from a maple tree and realised it was the source of the critter’s vitality. From then on people started drinking maple water, or sap, for its fortifying benefits.

Maple water was re-discovered by Jacques Cartier, the same man who discovered Canada, between 1536 and 1542. Intrigued by a strange-looking tree, he decided to cut it down and then saw a large quantity of sweet maple water squirt from the wood.

Throughout the years, different processes were developed to evaporate and boil the sap down to make the delicious, rich syrup we’re so familiar with today.