Consumption of maple products has been stable for the last 20 years at about 140 grams annually per capita. Maple syrup comes from the maple tree, an amazing natural sugar-making factory. During the growing season, maple trees accumulate starch. With the spring thaw, enzymes change this starch into sugar which mixes with the water absorbed through the roots, imparting a slightly sweet taste. In early March the sap starts to run for about six to eight weeks and gives energy to the tree to make it grow.
All trees produce sap but maple trees produce sweeter sap than other trees, and more of it.
Today there are more than 100 million maple trees in Canada, but only a few of them are tapped for syrup making. It takes on average 40 litres of sap to make one litre of syrup. The collection of the sap, followed by its transformation into syrup by boiling, is a very old custom inherited from native Indians. They were the first to recognize it as a source of energy and nutrition. Taking sap from a tree does rob it of some nourishment, but because less than one-tenth of a tree's sugar food is removed during tapping, no harm is made to the tree.