On a picturesque hillside in Northern Windsor County , an independent maple syrup farmer named Cory Krieg is busy preparing for the upcoming sugaring season . Krieg is the founder of Maple Farmers , a recently-formed collective of six family farms in Central Vermont that sell high-quality craft maple syrup under a common label . After walking through the doorway of the sugar house that he built with his bare hands , he pauses to reflect as he leans on a locally-sourced hemlock wood wall . “ It ’ s been a wonderful experience bringing all of this together ,” says Krieg . “ People have really connected with our products and the farmers that make them , and I ’ ve been able to build a business model that I ’ m very proud of .”
Originally born in Northwestern Pennsylvania , Krieg moved to Vermont in 1980 , when he was a young boy . Soon after , he began making small-batch maple syrup using sap from the trees that surrounded his parents ’ house . “ My early experiences with maple sugaring really made me appreciate all of the hard work that goes into the process ,” says Krieg . “ I fell in love with the Vermont tradition of small-batch maple syrup , and it ’ s been a big part of my life ever since .”
After graduating from high school , Krieg earned a degree in engineering from Norwich University . He went on to work as an electrical engineer for several highly-profitable multinational companies , and eventually landed at FUJIFILM Dimatix in Lebanon , New Hampshire . Over the course of his engineering career , Krieg ’ s passion for maple sugaring continued to grow .
After Krieg was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 , he decided that it was finally time to build a fully-operational sugar house at his property in Bethel . “ It had always been a longtime dream of mine to build a sugar house and expand my maple syrup production , but I kept putting it off and saying I would do it further down the line . I built the sugar house over an eight-month period during the course of my cancer treatment . I had someone come to pour the foundation , and I had some help with the roof , but I built everything else myself . It helped me get through my treatment , and it also served as the catalyst for the formation of the Maple Farmers collective .”
Once the sugar house was built , Krieg purchased a wood-fired evaporator , a filter press , and a canning unit . During the first year that Krieg made his syrup in the sugar house , he sold it to his family and friends . He initially bottled the syrup in glass wine bottles , but he discovered that it was unsustainably expensive to ship it that way . Krieg knew that in order to effectively enter the maple syrup market , he had to create an online store and figure out how to make his brand more visible through search engine optimization . “ I had no idea where to
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