Category Catalysts: Maple Syrup - Butternut Mountain Farm

Maple syrup is a mature category but one that consumers still demand broad, high quality selection from. Brands are expected to bring top quality natural items, while still finding new ways to excite shoppers. Moreover, the category is subject to the whims of nature with harvests being larger and smaller. Butternut Mountain Farm has found a solid balance between the two extremes, with a sturdy basic assortment and demonstrated expertise in sourcing and category management.

“We’ve been in this business for more than 50 years,” said Emma Marvin, Co-Owner and Founder of Butternut Mountain Farm. “At Butternut Mountain Farm, we’ve seen a lot of growth, both in our organization and across maple syrup. More broadly at the time, there are a number of reasons that growth has happened, and certainly [at] Butternut Mountain Farm, and how we do business has shaped both our growth, and I like to think that it’s had a positive impact on the maple industry.”

The company balances a focus on product with the awareness that sourcing and planning are paramount for success in the maple syrup category. 

“While our business is diversified in the sense that part of our origin is forestry, so we continue to offer forest management services to clients across northern Vermont,” Marvin said. “That is tied to folks who are actually making maple syrup here in part. Everything we do comes back in a way to maple. That level of singular focus on the product has in part played a role in bar growth but also in the growth of maple. There are several of us who would really focus almost exclusively on pure maple. I think there is a confluence of where consumers are and what they have been looking for as they fill their food baskets and maple has been in the right place at the right moments in time to grow with the evolution of what consumers want.”

The company’s commitment to the category hasn’t changed since being founded in 1972. 

“I think that desire to make maple syrup, the deep connection took place and a commitment to figuring out how to get the product to market is really what fueled us in the founding of the company, and it continues to fuel us today,” Marvin said. “So, we’re a little different than a lot of food companies in terms of why did you end up in the space, what made you think about entering the segment. It really is at the core of the product and our connection to making it.”

The maple syrup category is both nostalgic and modern, with a variety of merchandising options and consumer presentations available to drive growth. Having seen myriad changes throughout the last 50 years, Butternut Mountain remains committed to pure maple.

“Today, it feels anomalous if you go into the syrup aisle in mass market retailers, mainstream grocery and pure maple syrup isn’t offered as an option. So, that’s a huge change. One of the things that we do in terms of how we show is a commitment to pure maple, almost exclusively.”