MapleMAPS is an interactive consumer market analytical tool intended to help US maple producers understand and identify market opportunities for various maple sugar products. The tool and accompanying research reports are designed to be used as a guide for small and medium sized maple producers in their efforts to find new market outlets for their products and are not intended to be a substitute for firm level due diligence.
Click on a category name to expand the section.
Click on a variable to see it displayed on the map.
Hover your mouse over the [?] icon next to a variable name to read the full survey question.
Click on a category name to expand the section.
Click on a variable to see it displayed on the map.
Hover your mouse over the [?] icon next to a variable name to read the full survey question.
The maple syrup industry is one of the oldest agricultural enterprises in North America and is of great economic and cultural significance to the United States - home to an estimated 9,492 maple farms (USDA, NASS, 2017 Census). Following increases in domestic maple syrup supply and corresponding pricing volatility, as well as heightened competition from Canada, the U.S. industry is facing economic pressure that is making efforts to thrive in the market increasingly difficult. As a result, many domestic maple operations are at risk of failing, the majority of which are small, often multi-generational, family operations in rural communities. Increasing consumer support for healthful or organic food that benefits local economies may represent a channel where U.S. maple producers can find sustainable market opportunities, generate more revenue, and improve profitability to sustain livelihoods and propel growth in the market.
Despite the growing competition faced by the U.S. maple syrup industry, previous research regarding consumer attitudes and preferences about healthful, organic food and their willingness to pay premium pricing suggests there are significant market opportunities for domestic maple syrup. These opportunities are difficult for small maple syrup producers to identify and measure due to a lack of comprehensive data on consumer insights as well as limited resources to access and analyze raw data.
The Maple Market Assessment and Planning System, or MapleMAPS, and accompanying research, is aimed at providing tools that all maple syrup producers can easily use for business planning and forecasting based on specific market opportunities in their respective and neighboring states and regions, and will lead to benefits such as increased consumption of domestic maple syrup and increased sales and better profit margins for producers. Empowered with the ability to understand market value based on consumer preference data, producers will be able to strengthen maple syrup marketing and promotion plans, improve value chain alignment, and conduct reliable business planning to create new and expanded revenue streams and profit centers.
The underlying research for MapleMAPS is based on data from a comprehensive survey of adult US household consumers designed and developed by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Southern Maine (USM) and Atlantic Corporation. The survey protocol was approved by USM’s Office of Research Integrity and Outreach (ORIO) Internal Review Board (IRB). The survey was administered by Dynata, an online market research company. Survey respondents were members of a Dynata survey panel located nationwide in all 50 states, excluding the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories. To collect a nationally representative sample of the U.S. consumer population, Dynata used a multi-sourcing panel recruitment strategy coupled with screener questions to ensure proportionality with the target population in terms of gender, age, and state of residence based on quotas from 2010 Census counts. The survey was administered online and contained 39 questions in total. A total of 20,155 case respondents were collected. Approximately 85% of respondents reported having purchased or consuming maple syrup or maple products while the remaining 15% of the survey sample reported as not actively purchasing or consuming maple syrup or maple products. Survey responses are representative of the target population in terms of gender, age, and state of residence that are based on quotas derived from 2010 Census counts. Survey data were tabulated and analyzed by researchers at CBER and formalized in two separate reports and corresponding data tables.
National Level:
State Level:
Nine U.S. Census Regions:
The Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) is a critical resource in supporting rural economies by providing the public and private sectors with university-based expert research and services. CBER is designated by the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) as a University Center for the state of Maine.
For more information visit our website at www.mainecber.com or email usmcber@maine.edu.
Atlantic Corporation is a leading agricultural business and economic research and development firm, conducting increasingly important market research for local food, agriculture, and aquaculture development, often spearheading large-scale public-private research collaborations and projects. We have completed major market assessment projects for the USDA through their SBIR, AFRI, and LFPP grant programs; NOAA; and many state governments, non-profits, and commercial enterprises. Our work has been widely published in white papers, reports, agricultural economic journals, and presented at regional and national conferences.
For data requests and questions related to this survey, please contact Atlantic Corporation.
This project is funded under award number 2019-68006-29327 from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Acer program. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Agriculture.
This app is best viewed in a modern browser (such as Chrome, Safari, or Firefox) on desktop mode. If you have trouble viewing, try updating your browser and clearing your browser cache.
Use the tabs at the top to navigate the interface.
Below is a guide to using MapleMAPS.
Along the left side of MapleMAPS is a toggle display for you to select a variable to be displayed on the map. You can click on the category name to expand or minimize a section.
Next you can select a variable which will be displayed on the map to the right.
Now that we’ve selected a variable to view, we see different shades of blue over each state. The darker, more saturated blues indicate higher values while lighter shades of blue indicate lower values. The color palette is standardized for related variables. The legend is located in the bottom right corner of the map and includes the units of measure.
You can hover the cursor over a state to learn about the survey responses in that area. This information appears in the top right section of the browser.
The General Findings tab displays information about consumer preferences and habits, while the Insights tab displays additional consumer and market information.
In the top left corner of the map are zoom options if you would like to view the United States larger or smaller. You can click and drag the map with your mouse to pan around and see more of the map.
If you would like to see the values averaged over a region, pan over this symbol on the upper left corner of the map, below the zoom buttons, to open up the "Level of Detail" map layers panel. Here you can select the level of detail to view averages based on state, region, or the entire United States.
Hover over the [?] on the left side of the variable name to see the full text of the survey question pertaining to that variable.
The survey question is also displayed in the infobox in the top right corner of the map area once a variable is selected.
Alaska
Hawaii