“My sister and I actually slept in the sugarhouse when we were kids,” says Chris White, who was raised on a Vermont farm that produced maple syrup. Without the modern maple processing technology available today, his parents spent weeks processing all the maple sap they could.

“Oftentimes, the school bus would pick us up at the sugarhouse and drop us off there. It was this familiar Vermont story in the springtime where the families just basically move into the sugar house,” he says.

Building on his family’s original crop of maple trees, White established Mount Mansfield Maple Products in 2009. He crafts the most rich and complex Grade B Maple Syrup and a sweet, decadent Coffee-Infused Maple Cream. But the best part of the syrup business for White is being a member of such a supportive community.

“Our roots are really in agriculture and helping each other out,” says White. “Despite maple becoming a bigger business, we still hold onto these core values.”

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Photos: Courtesy of Mount Mansfield Maple Products and Brianna Coleman