Canadian Syrup Inc. Elgin….Celebrates Re-Opening

Photos Top To Bottom:
Murals on door by Fred Harrison of Goshin, Elgin, NB
Murals in Conferance Room
Map showing all the countries where Canadian Syrup Inc. goes to.
Roger showing parts of the factory.
Roger pointing out packages ready for Australia
Ribbon cutting, staff in blue (6 of 15)L President of the Albert County Chamber of Commerce Brian Keirstead, MLA Wayne Steeves, Judy and Roger Steeves and son Kirk.
Murial in staff room
Fire in May of 2009 that destroyed the original plant

All photos by Sharon A. Layton-Pollock

On Tuesday, December 21, 2010 many family, friends and neighbours braved the stormy weather to join Roger and Judy Steeves, of Canadian Syrup Inc., to help celebrated the re-opening of their 12,000 square foot production facility by highlighting its new production and packaging capacities.

Roger took several groups on a tour of his new and improved facility. While doing so he told of his families struggles and hardships to bring “From The Ashes,” so to speak, his company to become a company that now ships maple products to countries all over the world. He was very proud to tell of the new product lines they have developed and of the new ones they are working on. His latest success was to develop a syrup that stayed suspended in ice cream to make a Maple Swirl Ice Cream treat.

As he lead the tour to the far end of the facility, the shipping and receiving department, he pointed out, with great pride, the boxes upon boxes all wrapped and waiting for the big trucks to start their journey to their final destination of Australia.

HISTORY

Our family was one of the first settlers to arrive in the Elgin area dating back to the 1700's. Our great-grandfather received land grants. At that time there were native Indians who were very familiar with the art of making maple syrup. Legend says: in the early days, Indians discovered maple syrup by accident. It has been told that one spring an Indian brave threw his ax into a maple tree located near their fire pit. While the women were cooking on an open fire, the heat from the fire started the sap dripping from the tree, down the ax handle and into their pots. This made their meal very sweet, so they collected this "sweet sap" in larger amounts and boiled it into a sweet thick syrup. Similarly, our great-grandfather made maple syrup in large iron pots over an open fire, using wooden spills in small drill holes in the maple trees.
Our grandfather was one of the first in the area to construct a building, as well as using a new method of extracting the water with an evaporator. He advanced from wooden spills to steel spills, and collected the sap with horse and sleigh. Our father carried on the tradition. He used more modern equipment such as corrugated evaporators, lids on cans, and plastic pipe which ran from one tan house to the main camp. With our father we expanded using pipeline to all trees, vacuum pumps, reverse osmosis machines and forced air evaporators. The tradition continues with our son. He helped to develop a WORLD CLASS LINE OF NATURAL PRODUCTS that are sold world wide.
Our "Original Canadian Syrup" continues this tradition, as an award winning 100% Natural product that was hailed as breakthrough in Maple Syrup technology.
This special formulation consists of the same natural ingredient breakdown as maple sap, but is much more consistent in taste, color and aroma. With our unique process, Original Canadian Syrup brings the highest quality with no additives or preservatives, allowing you to use it exactly like traditional maple syrup at a significant cost savings.

The "Original Canadian", A natural choice from the Steeves family to yours!

The Honourable Rob Moore was unable to attend, due to illness, but had earlier said, “The Canadian food processing industry makes an important contribution to the strength of our provincial and regional economy. Thought our government’s investment of more than $240,000. Canadian Syrup Inc. is enhancing its productivity and improving its capacity to compete in national and international markets.”
The project has helped the company to retrofit an existing building to replace the processing, packaging and warehouse facilities that were destroyed by fire in May 2009. The company’s state-of-the-art facility supports an enhanced production process, automated packaging and provides co-packaging services to other companies.
MLA Wayne Steeves said, “The Government of New Brunswick recognizes the importance of the maple syrup industry as a contributor to the province’s economy. We are proud to be able to contribute to the success of Canadian Syrup Inc. a home-grown New Brunswick company, with assistance from Business New Brunswick’s NB Growth Program.”
Roger Steeves, President of Canadian Syrup Inc. said, “We know firsthand how difficult it is for small business in our province with a lot of companies closing or moving out of NB. We are proud to say that we continue to grow and are the largest employer in the small community of Elgin. Now, after a year of hard work, determination and significant investments by our family in getting our new facility operational, along with some funding help from ACOA and BNB, we are able to continue producing our great products for customers all over the world.”
Support for the Canadian Syrup’s development of its new facility includes a $240,000 repayable loan made available through ACOA’s Business Development Program (BDP). The Province of NB is assisting the company with an investment of $40,000.00

CHECK OUT THEIR WEB SITE FOR MORE INFORMATION AT: www.canadiansyrupinc.com
Manufacturing of syrup, sugars, spreads and candies. Canadian Syrup Inc. has won the Canadian Grower New Product Award and is Federal Licensed Packaging Plant. With the capability of producing 20,000lbs of bulk product per day, plus packaged ...163 Gowland Mountain Rd., Elgin, NB