Smoky Lake Maple refines century old problems in maple syrup production and faces new ones

• Their seasonal business is weather dependent — warmer weather leads to more maple sap flowing out and an increase in sales of the equipment vital to its collection and transformation into syrup.
• They’ve also got other priorities as they run the small business: production, a shortage of skilled workers, and rising costs of raw materials due to tariffs.
• The eagerness to tinker and improve their equipment stems from a self-realization of their strengths in making things and is further fueled by competition with Canadian companies.

HILBERT — Business was brisk on an average March weekday at Smoky Lake Maple Products.

Angela and Jim Schumacher, co-owners of the syrup-focused tool manufacturer, serve several maple syrup producers, most of whom tap sap from maple trees and make their own maple syrup during the spring.

“January, February, and March is our peak, and our big months,” said Angela.

Their business is weather dependent — warmer weather leads to more maple sap flowing and an increase in sales of the equipment vital to its collection and transformation into syrup.

There are additional concerns as they run the small business: production, a shortage of skilled workers, and rising costs of raw materials due to tariffs.

Of all the maple syrup equipment manufacturers across the county, Smoky Lake Maple Products is among the youngest. It’s one of the smallest, too, with an output that might be considered a rounding error for major Canadian manufacturers that dominate the North American equipment trade.

Products focused on a few innovative devices

Driven to solve century-old problems in maple syrup making, Smoky Lake has boiled down their ideas to a few innovative devices, presented northeast Wisconsin-style.

One such innovation is a maple syrup density measurement device. Hydrometers are tools used to test the sugar density of maple syrup. However, their readings can be skewed by the sample syrup's temperature. The Schumacher's version allows maple syrup producers to gain quicker, more precise hydrometer readings regardless of the temperature. 

The patented device, called the Murphy Compensation Cup, appeals to hobbyists and industrial producers alike, especially during the peak maple syrup production season. The Schumachers hope it will establish a new industrial standard for handcrafted products made in the United States.

It is their most popular product, selling consistently across the country, including in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington State and Alaska. They’ve even had customers in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

The eagerness to tinker and improve their equipment stems from a self-realization of their strengths in making things and is further fueled by seeking workarounds while competing with Canadian companies.During the past few years, Smoky Maple has become a key manufacturer in the United States in its niche. At the same time, American manufacturers have begun to embrace reshoring, incentivized by trade wars, supply chain problems, and geopolitical tensions.

“We’re just gonna have to adapt," said Angela, 45, who was an art director in an advertising agency in Sheboygan. "We’re not gonna stop innovating here at Smoky Lake, and we offer things that can’t be found anywhere else.”

Smoky Lake doesn’t have research labs in its plant, and it is surrounded by a tranquil parcel of farmland in Hilbert. Rather than hiring scientists, Jim, 42, carried out almost all of the trial-and-error experimentation himself.

The plumber turned co-owner said no one has ever made equipment focused on eliminating the temperature factor four when testing syrup density.

A hobby became a business for this couple

The idea came to the Schumachers while they were deep in their maple syrup-making hobbies almost 15 years ago.

When Jim and Angela made their own test flask at their garage in Kaukauna, they took into consideration a common measurement process that other producers also face when determining syrup density.

“The need to simplify that was hard to dismiss,” he said.

Jim gave credit to Angela for her diligence in taking users into consideration while experimenting with the density measurement device.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than 5.86 million gallons of maple syrup are made in the US in 2023. Wisconsin ranks fourth in production, behind Vermont, New York and Maine.

The couple filed a patent application in 2015, and years before their application, they quit their full-time jobs and decided to move manufacturing from their garage in Kaukauna to Hilbert in Calumet County.

Jim and Angela, now listed as co-inventors, speak to maple syrup enthusiasts knowledgeably about the difference between a Murphy Compensation Cup and conventional hydrometers in their showroom, which was built in 2016.

In the showroom of the one-story manufacturing warehouse, Smoky Maple showcases a full line of equipment, which is almost all handcrafted in-house at the Hilbert plant.

But the innovation was realized using stainless-steel sheets and metals, which are subject to a 25% tariff imposition by President Trump if they are coming from outside the United States.

Angela said Smoky Lake sources raw materials, including stainless steel, both domestically and abroad and then transforms them on-site.

Even as tariffs on imported steel have driven up production costs in recent years, it has worked to keep its equipment affordable for beginner equipment buyers.

The new tariffs would add additional costs for the fabrication.

“I don’t know how much we can take continuing to compound those costs,” she said. “I’d love to be able to get all of my materials local, but that is not possible right now.”

But she encourages government subsidies to support and incentivize manufacturers to return to Wisconsin or to the county.

Smoky Maple is a vestige of the old Wisconsin model of manufacturing, when local families owned manufacturing, and products symbolize a strong family value.

Angela said Smoky Maple doesn’t just sell pans, evaporators, or filtering machines- rather, they work to bring a group of people together.

“These things are going to bring a family or group of friends together, because once you fire up that evaporator and all that steam goes into the air, it makes people excited, because they’re making memories together,” she said.

This year marks the Hilbert plant’s 10th anniversary. The couple built the showroom one year later, followed by the construction of the warehouse in 2017.

They’re also expanding. They employ 12 full-time workers and three part-timers, which include the co-owners and all production, sales, and marketing staff.

Jim and Angela are seeking out welders and fabricators as part of their expansion plan.

“We can start so humble but believe in ourselves enough to grow into something big,” she said.

Zhen Wang is a business reporter for The Post-Crescent. Reach her with story tips and feedback at zwang@gannett.com or 920-993-7117.