Maple Sugaring Family Business Makes The Most Of A Sticky Situation
Tis’ the season for maple syrup! It’s officially maple sugaring season and Corey’s Sugar Shack is tapping into its family’s Hudson Valley tradition yet again after a challenging business year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Located in Highland, NY, the quaint, off-the-beaten path, sugar bush farm, owned by Debra and John Corey, is dedicated to the production of 100% pure maple syrup, along with educational events for the community. Although the family-owned business took a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year (along with other local sugar houses), the boom of business this season has left them on a high… or rather, a sugar high.
Debra Corey elaborated on the popularity of sugaring in the Hudson Valley explaining, “It’s basically a statewide event… At the end of March, the last two weekends, every sugar house around would have tours, open house, pancake breakfasts… people make a weekend of it going all over to a bunch of different sugar shacks.” Founder of the business and maple-making mastermind John Corey confidently continued, “It will definitely be better this year compared to last because people will come in and feel more comfortable to buy the product.”
Prime maple sugaring season typically occurs throughout the month of March and lasts 4–6 weeks, which is why the industry was hurt so badly last year because businesses were shut down at the same time. Debra shared, “The sap is always going to flow, but there was no one to sell it to because it was hard to get people out.” She continued, “We couldn’t do our tours which are really big for us. The whole maple industry was out of tours last year.”
Corey’s Sugar Shack is usually known for advertising its business through festivals and fairs, and had not placed a large emphasis on maintaining a digital presence. However, due to the pandemic, they quickly realized its importance; and revamped their website to help increase internet sales. However, their business still suffered due to the cancellation of the on-site events and festivals from last year.
COVID aside, the Coreys are no strangers to combating and adapting to challenges that come their way in this industry. Weather is a major factor that can affect the success of a maple sugaring season; and fortunately, this year is premium due to the cold weather the Hudson Valley has had. John explained that twenty degrees at night and forty degrees in the day is best.
What once started as a hobby for John many years ago, turned into a sweet success. One of his missions as an entrepreneur was to broaden the public’s view of maple syrup as a whole. “There are people when they think of maple syrup, they think of Vermont. But the Hudson Valley is loaded with Sugar Maples,” declared John. As a matter of fact, the sugar maple tree is even the official tree of New York state! He continued, “Everyone always refers to maple syrup and pancakes. We do a lot of different events and every event we do, we put a spin onto it.”
Spins include everything from barbecuing meat with maple syrup, collaborating with distilleries to create unique blends of barrel-aged Bourbon maple syrup, mixing into alcoholic beverages, sauces, candies, and more. Past partners have included the Hudson Valley Root Fest, the Rosendale Pickle Festival, and students from the Culinary Institute of America.
For John and his family, the fascination all boils down to seeing the clear liquid come out of the tree, transitioning from sap to syrup, to ultimately the delicious finished product. They proudly gushed “you kind of get hooked,” and they are excited to be able to give the Hudson Valley community a taste of that feeling once again.
