The Rural Voice, 1993-12, Page 27as a gift for a hostess. Last year she
had one unique request to make up a
basket in a sap pail with a spile
included so the recipient could make
his own maple syrup in the future.
In recent years the Robinsons
have realized the potential for
providing gift baskets for companies
that want to say thank you to good
customers. They developed a
"Canadian breakfast" basket that
includes their own maple syrup,
maple butter, maple jelly, candied
maple sugar as well as a pancake mix
developed by another local small
food producer. They approached
variouscompanies to see if they were
interested and got some orders.
The spring season brings a hectic
time, both in production and
marketing. Beginning in
February the 45 miles of plastic
tubing must be installed to the 12,000
taps that have been drilled over 180
acres of their own, and some rented,
land. They have a large, ultra -modern
processing building a mile down the
road from their house (the name
sugar shack seems ridiculous looking
at this operation). When the sap is
running they host school tours and
bush tours and sell syrup right on the
spot. The school tours, she says, help
educate a future generation of syrup
consumers. She praises the work of
conservation authorities near large
urban centres for bringing the public
back in touch with this taste of
nature.
During L.:. summer tourist season
Susanne is on the road introducing
that taste to people all over southern
Ontario, from Niagara -on -the -Lake
to Toronto to London and Sarnia.
She even exports to Detroit. And
modern technology has opened up a
market in far off Japan. Every year
they get quite a few orders by fax
from Japan.
Service and quality are as much a
part of the Robinson product as
maple syrup itself. "The only thing
we can do is have a good quality
product," Susanne says, noting that
with a glut of maple syrup on the
market in recent years, she can't
compete against the low prices. She
refuses to be beaten down on prices.
"Hopefully if you have good service
and good quality customers stick
with you. It's kind of nice to have
good friends in the business."0
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rOWNSEND TIRE
Beside Radtord's, Londesboro
WISHING YOU A SAFE AND
HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON
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Greetings
AUTHORIZED DEALER
CLIFF'S
Plumbing & Heating
Operated" — Cliff Mann Mechanical Ltd
LUCKNOW 528-3913 FAX 528-3125
DECEMBER 1993 23