Today, we’d like to introduce you to Jake Leveto. Jake was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Vicky Nguyen.
Hi Jake, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
Nova Maple Syrup was established in 2015 with the purchase of a 100-acre property in Hartstown, Pennsylvania. The inaugural commercial syrup season began in late January of 2016 with roughly 7,500 taps. Since then we’ve expanded to 22,000 taps covering 275 acres and offer a full line of maple products including maple candy, cream, granulated sugar, and barrel aged syrup.
During the winter of 2013, Jake decided to try making his own maple syrup with some of the trees on their 1.5-acre property as a hobby. He researched online, ordered the necessary equipment for a small-scale operation, and got to work. He tapped 50 trees and hung plastic bags to collect the sap. He and Hailee chopped wood and boiled the sap over an open fire at the back of the property. When the season was over, they had made 17 gallons of syrup.
Jake, along with help from Hailee and some friends, continued to make maple syrup over the next two seasons, each year upgrading methods and equipment. Instead of using plastic bags that had to be collected and poured into a barrel, they were now connecting all the trees with tubing that used a vacuum to pump the sap to a single collection point. This, in addition to tapping more trees (200 instead of just 50) increased production to 50 gallons a year. Jake and Hailee used the syrup to give away as favors at their wedding in July of 2014 in glass maple leaf bottles.
Thoughts of producing maple syrup on a commercial scale began to enter their minds, so they started searching for a suitable plot of wooded land. They found what they were looking for in Hartstown, PA.
After a successful first season producing commercially, Jake and Hailee had their sights set on expanding. Three more properties, totaling 170-acres, were purchased and set up for the 2017 season. With newly recruited help, 15,000 additional taps were put in, making Nova Maple Syrup one of the largest producers in the area.
Vicky Nguyen and Yummmm!Bar have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Vicky Nguyen and Yummmm!Bar and your experience with them.
Vicky first started using our syrup in her Yummmmbars in 2016 when she purchased our syrup on Amazon, but we didn’t actually get to know her until three years later when she reached out to purchase directly. As someone who has grown their own business, one of my favorite things to watch is how much Vicky is growing hers. At first it was five gallons at a time, then ten gallons every couple months, next ten gallons each month, and finally now she’s at the point where she’ll order a pallet of 100+ gallons at a time. We’ve had her products and know how good they are and the growing sales are proof that everyone else knows too. It’s important to have both consistent customers and consistent vendors, Vicky knows she can count on us to consistently get her the ingredients she needs and we know we can count on her consistent orders
Please tell us more about your brand, Nova Maple Syrp
Nova Maple Syrup is family produced in Northwest Pennsylvania, sustainably harvested from our own hardwood forests. We pride ourselves on making the best syrup possible, and are confident you’ll enjoy eating it as much as we enjoy making it! In addition to making amazing syrup we further process it into premium granulated sugar, molded candy, and spreadable cream. What sets us apart is our online distribution system, our small team of only five people ship out around one thousand items each week to every corner of the country. We’re most proud of our customer loyalty, our products and service are so good that the majority of our sales are to repeat customers.
Website: novamaple.com
