7 ms·

If jokes are allowed on HN still…this is Canada’s version of the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve right?

by josephjrobison 2y ago

CydeWeys 2y ago
It's not a joke. This is a strategic reserve for them.
- MrDresden 2y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Maple_Syrup_Producers#Strategic_reserve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Maple_Syrup_Producers...
  - neuronexmachina 2y ago
    Looks like it's stored as barrels: https://ppaq.ca/en/sale-purchase-maple-syrup/worlds-only-reserve-maple-syrup/ https://ppaq.ca/en/sale-purchase-maple-syrup/worlds-only-res... (I was kind of hoping it'd be a giant pool of maple syrup)
- nonethewiser 2y ago
  I think he was referring to his own comment. It does seem like a funny thing to do but not when you think about it. Its a commodity. It has a price. Canada controls much of the market. It lasts a long time. Why wouldn’t they have a reserve? It also seems very rich 21st century to not see immediate value in storing large quantities of food. Surplus is something we take for granted.
Waterluvian 2y ago
Kind of. It's not a national security strategic reserve but rather an economic one. It helps ensure a stable supply so that prices don't skyrocket, particularly as the annual harvest of maple syrup is very hard to predict: it depends heavily on freeze/thaw patterns in the spring. The argument, I think, is that if prices are unreliable, customers are turned off from the product and develop new habits that exclude maple syrup. Without it, maple syrup prices would have been ridiculous these past couple years. It's also how we avoid having to annex Vermont.
- thehappypm 2y ago
  It also acts as a buyer when prices are very low (gotta fill the reserve somehow) which props up prices at oversupply times, keeping the industry stable.
dehrmann 2y ago
Nah. It's more like their version of the US strategic cheese reserve.
- shagie 2y ago
  (and yes, that's a thing) https://www.farmlinkproject.org/stories-and-features/cheese-caves-and-food-surpluses-why-the-u-s-government-currently-stores-1-4-billion-lbs-of-cheese https://www.farmlinkproject.org/stories-and-features/cheese-... There's also the Swiss coffee reserve - https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/has-beans_why-is-switzerland-s-coffee-stockpile-making-headlines/45363090 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/has-beans_why-is-switz... > The Swiss government has delayed a decision to scrap the nation’s 15,000-tonne strategic coffee bean reserve after the proposal prompted public and industry jitters. Here’s what you need to know about the issue and why it's been brewing for months. ... though, that's more a strategic reserve. > Self-reliance is an integral part of Swiss history and economic policy, and the country stocks food, medicines and oil in large quantities to cope with possible shortages. The three-month coffee reserve aims to insulate the land-locked nation from supply disruptions, historically driven by concerns about global conflict although now facing the more immediate threat of global warming and low water levels on the River Rhine shipping route.
  - nvahalik 2y ago
    I've actually been in the underground where the cheese cave is, though I didn't actually see any cheese. They took us outside (or maybe, inside?) of the finished area and got to experience the "true darkness" inside. Like, you know that you can turn around and go right back around, but honestly, it is so dark in there that it makes your heart race. It's also like 50-something degrees in there year-round. Pretty cozy. ;)
tshaddox 2y ago
Fairly similar, although the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is more about keeping the United States economy stable in the midst of global supply disruptions (particularly discouraging foreign nations who might like to pressure the United States with embargoes), while the FPAQ maple syrup reserve is more about keeping the maple syrup industry financially stable from year to year.
zeteo 2y ago
Americans will soon be encouraged to switch to electric pancakes.

If jokes are allowed on HN still…this is Canada’s version of the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve right?

CydeWeys 2y ago

It's not a joke. This is a strategic reserve for them.

MrDresden 2y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Maple_Syrup_Producers#Strategic_reserve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Maple_Syrup_Producers...
- neuronexmachina 2y ago
  Looks like it's stored as barrels: https://ppaq.ca/en/sale-purchase-maple-syrup/worlds-only-reserve-maple-syrup/ https://ppaq.ca/en/sale-purchase-maple-syrup/worlds-only-res... (I was kind of hoping it'd be a giant pool of maple syrup)
nonethewiser 2y ago
I think he was referring to his own comment. It does seem like a funny thing to do but not when you think about it. Its a commodity. It has a price. Canada controls much of the market. It lasts a long time. Why wouldn’t they have a reserve? It also seems very rich 21st century to not see immediate value in storing large quantities of food. Surplus is something we take for granted.

Waterluvian 2y ago

Kind of. It's not a national security strategic reserve but rather an economic one. It helps ensure a stable supply so that prices don't skyrocket, particularly as the annual harvest of maple syrup is very hard to predict: it depends heavily on freeze/thaw patterns in the spring. The argument, I think, is that if prices are unreliable, customers are turned off from the product and develop new habits that exclude maple syrup. Without it, maple syrup prices would have been ridiculous these past couple years. It's also how we avoid having to annex Vermont.

thehappypm 2y ago
It also acts as a buyer when prices are very low (gotta fill the reserve somehow) which props up prices at oversupply times, keeping the industry stable.

dehrmann 2y ago

Nah. It's more like their version of the US strategic cheese reserve.

shagie 2y ago
(and yes, that's a thing) https://www.farmlinkproject.org/stories-and-features/cheese-caves-and-food-surpluses-why-the-u-s-government-currently-stores-1-4-billion-lbs-of-cheese https://www.farmlinkproject.org/stories-and-features/cheese-... There's also the Swiss coffee reserve - https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/has-beans_why-is-switzerland-s-coffee-stockpile-making-headlines/45363090 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/has-beans_why-is-switz... > The Swiss government has delayed a decision to scrap the nation’s 15,000-tonne strategic coffee bean reserve after the proposal prompted public and industry jitters. Here’s what you need to know about the issue and why it's been brewing for months. ... though, that's more a strategic reserve. > Self-reliance is an integral part of Swiss history and economic policy, and the country stocks food, medicines and oil in large quantities to cope with possible shortages. The three-month coffee reserve aims to insulate the land-locked nation from supply disruptions, historically driven by concerns about global conflict although now facing the more immediate threat of global warming and low water levels on the River Rhine shipping route.
- nvahalik 2y ago
  I've actually been in the underground where the cheese cave is, though I didn't actually see any cheese. They took us outside (or maybe, inside?) of the finished area and got to experience the "true darkness" inside. Like, you know that you can turn around and go right back around, but honestly, it is so dark in there that it makes your heart race. It's also like 50-something degrees in there year-round. Pretty cozy. ;)

tshaddox 2y ago

Fairly similar, although the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is more about keeping the United States economy stable in the midst of global supply disruptions (particularly discouraging foreign nations who might like to pressure the United States with embargoes), while the FPAQ maple syrup reserve is more about keeping the maple syrup industry financially stable from year to year.

zeteo 2y ago

Americans will soon be encouraged to switch to electric pancakes.