It all started with a little "sweet" love and a whole lot of "sweet" determination. How can God use five sugar maple trees, twelve taps, and a turkey cooker to start a family business?
In 2011, we started an adventure with our first child. Being a mother who wanted the best nutrition for her children, Christy wanted to start purchasing pure maple syrup for the family. Dear Daniel had a better idea… “let's make it!”, he said.
There were four big sugar maple trees in the front yard of the old farmhouse, and they held a secret that was sure to make our life sweet. It wasn't an easy task with a one-year-old in tow, but once the twelve taps were in those trees and the sap was flowing, Daniel, Christy, and baby Kenny began collecting the sap in buckets. Then they sat, and waited, and watched… and waited, and watched… until it was pure maple syrup.
By the end of the first season, we had one burned pan, five gallons of pure maple syrup, and three happy people.
Since that first year of making maple syrup, we've grown not only to become a family of nine, but also to become one of the largest pure maple syrup producers in Southwest Michigan. As a family, we make about three to five thousand gallons of maple syrup each year and seek to get it into as many local communities as possible.
Every year in March and October, we host our two biggest events of the year, providing an educational maple experience for the whole family. To find out more about these events, check out www.MichiganMapleFestival.com and www.MapleValleyMeatCo.com.
In spring 2020, we opened a temporary mini maple store with a wide variety of maple products available year-round. We offer maple products such as candies, seasonings, sauces, coffee, and more. Check out these products and more online.
Our "sweet" incentive as a family business is to provide other families with some of the best pure maple syrup and maple products around. It is our joy to have our children involved in the maple sugaring process. As we continue to expand our business, we create an educational environment for our children to learn about life and making a living.