(Submitted photo)
Consumers can use the map to locate restaurants, coffee shops, and retailers offering local maple syrup products by filtering searches by county or product type.
Pennsylvania has unveiled the new PA Maple Map as part of a push to promote local agriculture and grow the state’s burgeoning maple syrup industry.
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding took the wraps off the new PA Maple Map recently.
The digital tool, developed through a partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Hardwoods Development Council and the PA Preferred program, in collaboration with the PA Maple Syrup Producers Council, looks to connect consumers directly with local maple syrup producers and retailers.
Consumers can use the map to locate restaurants, coffee shops, and retailers offering local maple syrup products by filtering searches by county or product type.
Despite Bucks County not having any maple syrup sellers on the map, neighboring Montgomery County hosts a seller, with additional options not very far away.
Pennsylvania ranks sixth nationally with nearly 300 farms producing maple syrup and tapping around 790,000 trees.
In 2023, the farms produced over 205,000 gallons of syrup, valued at over $7.5 million, according to agriculture officials.
Funded by nearly $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the map is part of a larger initiative to market Pennsylvania-produced maple products.
“The beauty and tastes of fall in Pennsylvania are second to none,” said Redding. “We hope you’ll use the new PA Maple Map as a tool to sweeten your fall travel and flavor your everyday life. The small-business ingenuity and vision of Pennsylvania farms is why we are a national leader, and why the Shapiro Administration is investing in keeping Pennsylvania agriculture at the top.”
Food products grown in the state feature the PA Preferred program’s distinctive yellow and blue check, which also helps consumers identify other quality local agricultural products.
