During a routine inventory check at the St-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse in Canada, officials from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers noticed a maple syrup barrel was empty. Then another, then another. In the end, empty barrels representing 10 million pounds of syrup, worth an estimated $30 million, were discovered, the bandits apparently siphoning the sweet, sticky solution into other containers, reports AFP.
The discovery, which was initially kept secret, occurred at a temporary warehouse where the now-stolen syrup was supposed to be held for just a short period of time, reports the Globe and Mail. The warehouse is controlled by the Federation, which represents about 10,000 maple syrup producers.
Quebec, called the "Saudi Arabia of syrup" by some, produces between 70 and 80% of the world's maple syrup, most of it exported to the United States. In addition, because of a weak harvest in the U.S. in 2012, Quebec was expected to fill-in for the decreased supply. Now, they must figure out how to replace their own supply.
In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Sylvain Charlebois, a researcher of food policy at the University of Guelph, commented on the impact of such a heist on the federation.
“If they’re not concerned, they should be... This is such a fragile industry, and any loss on the supply side could be devastating.”
Aside from the loss of product, many worry that the stolen syrup will be sold on the black market at a much lower price, creating stiff competition for producers who actually had to pay to create the substance.
There was a bright spot in this sequence of events though. Maple syrup inventories are fully insured, meaning the loss will not fall directly on the producers, reports the Ottawa Citizen.
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