Quebec’s maple syrup producers losing ground as U.S. imports rise: report
MONTREAL — Quebec’s government-sanctioned maple syrup cartel is hurting the domestic industry with its strict quota system and price controls, says a report published Thursday.
Competitors in the United States and elsewhere in Canada are free to produce as much as they want and they benefit from price stabilization due to Quebec’s influence on the market, says the document produced by the right-leaning Montreal Economic Institute.
“Quebec still has a strong position but our competitors are getting closer and they are growing faster than we are,” Alexandre Moreau, author of the report, said in an interview.
The report says the federation of maple syrup producers in Quebec sets bulk prices and has a monopoly on bulk sales of the product, or 85 per cent of the province’s annual yield.