The Harvest Growth Podcast
Listen to inspirational stories from successful inventors and entrepreneurs as our host, Jon LaClare, founder of Harvest Growth, leads interviews targeted at helping aspiring inventors and market-leading entrepreneurs alike. If you’d like to see how Harvest Growth can help grow your product business, click below.
The Harvest Growth Podcast
How a Family Maple Syrup Brand Scaled to 18,000 Retail Stores
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In this episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, Jon LaClare sits down with Steve Anderson, president of Anderson’s Maple Syrup, to explore how his family transformed a small farming operation into a nationally distributed brand available in nearly 18,000 retail locations.
Founded in 1928, Anderson’s Maple Syrup has remained a family-run business for nearly a century. Steve shares how the company expanded from delivering syrup to local stores in a van to working with major retailers such as Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, and H-E-B.
One of the company’s biggest turning points came when Steve hired a hungry, growth-focused sales broker. Anderson’s was already available in approximately 3,000 to 4,000 stores, but Steve credits this relationship with helping the brand secure roughly 15,000 additional retail locations. He explains why finding the right salesperson, broker, agency, or growth partner can completely change the trajectory of a business.
Steve also reveals how Anderson’s differentiated itself in a category where retailers often view competing products as interchangeable. By emphasizing its 100% American-made syrup and using a unique bottling process that preserves freshness and flavor, the company created clear reasons for buyers and consumers to choose its brand.
The conversation also explores the operational challenges of running a seasonal business. Steve explains how Anderson’s plans an entire year of inventory around a short maple harvest, maintains trusted relationships with independent producers, and balances supply, cash flow, storage, and demand without running out of product.
In today’s episode of the Harvest Growth Podcast, we cover:
- How Anderson’s Maple Syrup grew from a local family operation to nearly 18,000 retail locations
- The sales relationship that helped the brand secure approximately 15,000 additional stores
- Why hiring a hungry, growth-focused partner can transform a business
- How Anderson’s broke into major national grocery chains
- Why clearly communicating your product’s differentiation is critical
- How one additional production step created a noticeable advantage in freshness and flavor
- How Anderson’s plans inventory around a short and unpredictable harvest
- Why long-term supplier relationships can become a competitive advantage
- How maple sap travels from the tree to the grocery store shelf
- Why direct-to-consumer growth requires the right fulfillment infrastructure
- How NASCAR partnerships became part of the company’s retail sales strategy
- How a family business preserves its quality and values across multiple generations
- And so much more!
If you’re building a consumer product, pursuing retail distribution, or looking for the right partner to accelerate your growth, this episode offers valuable lessons from a family business that has continued evolving for nearly 100 years.
Want to learn more about Steve and Anderson’s Maple Syrup?
Visit AndersonsMapleSyrup.com to explore their products and learn more about the company’s story.
Do you have a brand you’d like to launch or scale?
Visit HarvestGrowth.com to book a free consultation and learn how our team has helped generate over $2 billion in product sales.