Thursday, July 9, 2026

Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About The Great Maple Syrup Heist

Living in the USA I do remember hearing a little about The Great Maple Syrup Heist in Canada, but it was not a "big" news "event", so since I've learned my own ancestors were people who made Maple Syrup in Canada for generations, and since I've learned I'm a "Lost Canadian", and I want to learn about Canada, I thought I'd learn about The Great Maple Syrup Heist. Online I learned . . . 

  • In 2012, Quebec lost 3,000 tons of maple syrup—worth a massive $18 million CAD—in what was called the "OPEC of maple syrup". 
  • The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist (2011–2012) was the largest agricultural theft in Canadian history. Thieves siphoned $18.7 million CAD worth of syrup from a heavily guarded reserve in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec, replacing it with water to avoid immediate detection.
  • The massive theft targeted a reserve managed by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (FPAQ), often described as a state-sanctioned cartel which controls the global price and supply of maple syrup.
  • Over several months, mastermind Richard Vallières and his team rented space in the same warehouse where the FPAQ stashed its surplus inventory. They emptied thousands of 600-pound barrels of their golden contents and refilled them with water.
You will find my full post about The Great Maple Syrup Heist at this link.

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