Ferme Clémentoise
A family-run dairy and maple farm in Saint-Clément, in Québec's Bas-Saint-Laurent region.
Farming here is a family story. We are the third generation of dairy producers, and our sugar bush has been running for more than 50 years. Maple is something we know a thing or two about!
Every spring we collect our own maple sap and boil it the traditional way, over a wood fire. Our syrup is organic, certified by Ecocert Canada, which means meeting strict standards at every stage of production.
And even if the maples only run in spring, maple is worth savouring all year round! So we turn our syrup into a whole array of treats, made by hand in small batches to keep them at their freshest.
We also like to wander off the beaten path: we grow more than twenty varieties of hot peppers ourselves, and use them to create spicy maple products with flavours all their own.
Tradition, craftsmanship and a touch of daring: welcome to Ferme Clémentoise.
What difference does certified organic maple syrup make?
People often tell us that sap comes from a tree, so every syrup must be organic by nature. It is the most common assumption, and it is precisely the one certification exists to correct. The tree is only the beginning: between the tap and the container there are kilometres of tubing, an evaporator, cleaning products and a great many steps. All of that is what certification governs.
What organic certification actually verifies in a sugar bush:
- The forest itself: no pesticides, no herbicides, no chemical fertilizers in the sugar bush.
- The health of the trees: the number of taps is limited according to each maple's diameter, and a diversity of species must be maintained. An organic sugar bush is not a monoculture.
- What touches the sap: the products used to clean and sanitize the kilometres of tubing and the equipment come from a permitted list.
- What goes into the evaporator: defoamers must be permitted substances — a certified vegetable oil, never a synthetic product.
- The syrup itself: no chemical additives.
And none of it is taken on trust. Ecocert Canada, an independent accredited body, inspects the sugar bush every year and audits our records. That is what separates a certified syrup from one merely described as 'natural': someone came and looked.
