Our Story
Northern Reach Maple began the way many great maple operations do: with a handful of taps, a willingness to learn, and a deep appreciation for the forests that surround us. Based in the heart of the St. John Valley in Fort Kent, Maine, we started producing maple syrup as a small hobby operation in the spring of 2018. What began as a seasonal passion quickly grew into something much more as each year brought new lessons, new opportunities, and a steadily expanding sugarbush.
For several seasons, we focused on learning every aspect of maple production—from identifying and managing healthy maple stands to refining our syrup-making process and investing in equipment that would improve quality and efficiency. As our experience grew, so did the operation. By 2024, we had expanded to approximately 400–500 taps, reaching a point where we faced an exciting decision: remain a hobby-scale producer or make the leap toward commercial production.
We chose to grow.
Throughout 2024, we undertook a major transformation of the operation. We installed Miles of food-grade tubing throughout the woods, replacing more traditional collection methods and allowing sap to move efficiently from tree to sugarhouse while minimizing labor and disturbance to the forest. At the same time, we redesigned and equipped our sugarhouse to support larger-scale production while maintaining the attention to detail that had guided us from the beginning. These efforts laid the groundwork for our first commercial season in 2025.
Today, our operation encompasses significantly more tapped trees and utilizes specialized equipment designed to improve sap collection, processing efficiency, and syrup quality. Modern maple production relies on a combination of forestry stewardship, engineering, and food production practices, and we embrace each of those disciplines to produce the highest-quality maple products possible. Yet despite the growth, our philosophy remains unchanged.
We are still a family-run operation that takes pride in every stage of the process.
From maintaining healthy woodlots and installing tubing in the summer and fall, to monitoring weather conditions during the spring sap run, to carefully boiling, filtering, grading, and bottling syrup, every step is carried out with the same care and dedication that defined our earliest seasons. We believe great maple syrup starts long before the first tap is drilled and continues through every gallon that leaves the sugarhouse.
The work of producing maple syrup is truly a year-round endeavor. While most people associate maple syrup with the spring harvest, much of the preparation happens during the other three seasons. Forest management, tubing installation and maintenance, equipment upgrades, trail improvement, and sugarhouse preparation all play critical roles in ensuring a successful season when the sap begins to flow. Our commitment to these practices helps us produce syrup responsibly while preserving the health and productivity of the maple stands entrusted to our care.
At Northern Reach Maple, we are proud to share a product that reflects both the character of northern Maine and the hard work that goes into every bottle. Whether you’re enjoying our traditional pure Maine maple syrup or one of our specialty offerings, you’re tasting the result of countless hours spent in the woods and sugarhouse, guided by a passion for quality and a respect for the maple tradition.
