Study Suggests Promising Ways to Market Maple
In 2020, the New York State Maple Producers’ Association, in cooperation with the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, applied for and was awarded a USDA Acer Access and Development Program grant to conduct market research on the US consumer maple target audience. The project was designed to expand research, education, and extension efforts involving market sizing, audience research, and message testing, development, and planning to: 1) identify market opportunities, 2) optimize messaging, and 3) develop a market promotion and evaluation plan. The purpose of this work is to develop marketing tools and methods to increase the awareness of, and a rationale for, choosing pure maple syrup among audiences representing the greatest market opportunity. The program will achieve this goal through the development of research-driven messaging, market promotion strategies, and communications planning.