Maple Acres Farm: Budding Entrepreneurship in Algoma
Meet Ron and Jayne Baxter
With the beautiful Mississagi River running through it, Iron Bridge Ontario is a friendly rural village on Highway 17 between Thessalon and Blind River. Although small, it is home to some very enterprising and ambitious entrepreneurs.
Maple Acres Farm is one of those businesses. Ron and Jayne Baxter, a husband and wife team, started their business just three years ago and they have been hard at work growing it since then.
I had a chance to chat with Jayne to learn more about their business. Originally from Toronto and working in the medical administration field, Jayne explained that she loves her newly adopted hometown. Ron grew up in Iron Bridge on his parents’ 480-acre farm. The couple built their home on two acres of severed property from his parents and have been living there for the past 8 years raising two young boys. While Ron currently works off-farm, their goal is to work full-time at Maple Acres.
Getting Started
“We started with making maple butter with a machine we acquired. Initially, we were giving it away as gifts, until we started to think that people may want to buy it because everyone loved it so much. It was at that point we began selling it to family and friends on Facebook,” Jayne explained. “Soon, we made enough money to pay for the maple butter machine and from there we added more products and went to vendor sales in the area.”
Jayne explained that there was a small sugar bush operation with a few taps and sap buckets on Ron’s parents’ property and that the small operation could not keep up with demand. They decided to expand and modernize the sugar bush.
“We added 1500 taps along with pipelines and a state-of-the-art wood-fired evaporator. With that investment, the operation now supports Maple Acres’ sales.”
What’s Available
Maple products that you will see at Maple Acres Farm include syrup, butter, granola (with a gluten-free option) sugar, fudge & candy, maple & cheddar popcorn (Chicago style using non-GMO kernels, coconut oil, and maple syrup). Among the diverse list of maple products, they also have over ninety laying hens and have added a grading station to grade their free-range eggs. Additionally, Maple Acre Farms offers freezer jams, jellies, canned peaches, and items from Jayne’s treasured family recipes including salsa, cookie-in-a-jar mix (chocolate chip and ginger snap) and pre-made pancake mix. The couple also plans to add meat hens and turkeys shortly. (For an updated status of those, please contact Maple Acres directly.)
New Partnerships, Packages and Promotions
In an exciting new collaboration, the Baxter’s started working with a local chef, Monique Laird, and have released two new products; “Monique’s Maple Syrup Vinaigrette” and “Monique’s Maple Bourbon BBQ Sauce.” Chef Monique operates Monique’s Fairway Bar and Grill at Huron Pines Golf Club in Blind River.
Jayne also explained that they create special packages for wedding favours, birthdays, gift packages and more. For example, the “Great Canadian Breakfast” package includes 500ml of maple syrup and a double batch of pancake mix (also available as The Mini Canadian Breakfast -single batch pancake mix with 250ml syrup) and the “Maple Acres Special” includes maple butter and maple syrup. Maple Acres will customize packages to any price point. What a great way to mix up different maple products and baking for fun gift ideas!
You are not going to want to miss this very special promotion coming up! Maple Acres Farm will be running 12 days of gift ideas shopping spree on Facebook from December 1-12. The event will showcase 12 businesses and their products as gift ideas to help shoppers with their list. Purchases made from any of the vendors during the 12 days will be eligible to win a gift basket filled with items donated from each business. Be sure to like and follow all participating businesses for extra chances to win.
To stay in the loop about the event be sure to join the group on Maple Acres Farm Facebook page.
How to get products from Maple Acre Farms
Maple Acres Farm products can be purchased at the farm gate (call or message first for contactless transactions). You can also shop their products in Blind River at The Birch Tree and Northern Country Flowers By Kerry Lee stores.
“All products are available at the Plaid Pig Food Market in Iron Bridge, says Jayne. We also sell at the Maple Ridge Store near Thessalon on Hwy 17 and The Copper Bean Café in Bruce Mines which uses our fresh eggs.”
Products are also for sale through the website for online purchasing. Wholesale pricing for larger quantities is available.
“Our customers come from Sault Ste. Marie to Toronto and Niagara Falls. We ship Canada-wide and we’re starting to ship to the U.S. and deliver from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury.” said Jayne.
Jayne and Ron’s enthusiasm for Maple Acres Farm is obvious and infectious. I have no doubt they will meet their ambitious goals while enjoying the advantages of raising their family in a small rural, close-knit community. Well done!
Ron and Jayne Baxter
50 Eley Rd. Iron Bridge, ON P0R 1H0
705 297-2585
Facebook and Instagram @mapleacres