Basically, about 10 years ago, the Quebec federation of maple syrup started to work with other associations in Canada in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario. We had a lot of subsidies from the federal level through agri-marketing and agri-investment to make sure that we.... At first, we knew that maple syrup was composed of sugar and water, but there was also 2% or 3% of something we didn't know. That is why we invested. It was to find out about the health benefits, which we did find in maple syrup. We hired one of the biggest specialists in North America when it comes to antioxidants and polyphenols. His name is Dr. Seeram, from the University of Rhode Island.
At first, the federal people asked us why we were hiring somebody in the U.S. to do research on Canadian maple syrup. Basically, he found about 60 to 70 antioxidants and polyphenols. He is a specialist in those compounds in food. He did work with blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry associations throughout North America. That is why he has credibility.
When he found what he found, we did some marketing with those issues.
Selling sugar in 2016 in developed countries is very difficult, because we are talking about diabetes problems and weight problems in our populations. How can we convince new consumers to buy sugar? People won't stop buying sugar, but if you give them a better choice, especially a Canadian one, why not? That is why we did invest, with the Government of Canada, in those types of research.
It is not over, because we used that research to do marketing and promotions, but in the end, we also have to find other ways to bring the news.
It worked in the past. Look at last year, 2015, which was a record year for the export of maple syrup to the world. We are quite sure that it was because we invested.
One problem we had a few years ago was that the previous government asked us to invest in marketing in new countries, especially the ones from the BRIC. When we compared those four countries, we chose to invest in India.
To start working with a new country where nobody knows about maple syrup was very difficult. Sometimes it is better to invest in countries that already know what maple syrup is, because it is easier to double the consumption with consumers who already know the product than with consumers who don't know about the product at all.