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In 1995, our family business, Wild Country Maple Products,
LLC, was formed. Initially, our maple sugaring experience
began in the late 1970s by gathering maple sap with
plastic milk jugs and boiling the sap on the kitchen
stove. Later it progressed to cooking the sap in a large,
open, flat pan over a wood fire.
In the mid-1980s, family member Chris Cordes began
a maple syrup operation near Almelund, Minnesota called
C. Cordes Sugar Bush. At this 1,700 tap sugar bush many
improvements over the early days of boiling sap were
implemented. In addition to sap buckets, tubing was
installed for sap collection and the sap was boiled
in an evaporator in a sugarhouse. Much of the knowledge
that was gained here laid the foundation for the business
that was yet to come.
In the early 1990s, job pressures, time away from family,
and urban development of local farm land, inspired family
members to seek a different lifestyle and to do something
entirely different. While searching in northeastern
Minnesota, an opportunity arose that we couldn’t
pass up - the chance to purchase 320 acres, composed
of nearly all sugar maple trees located on the north
shore of Lake Superior.
In the fall of 1995, the land was purchased and Wild
Country Maple Products was formed. Our family business
consists of Jim and Marianne Cordes, Chris Cordes, and
Larry and Kirstin Waddell. We began the process of selling
our homes, leaving our jobs, and starting our new venture
up north. Most of 1996 was spent planning the layout
of the operation, building a sugarhouse, putting out
tubing, and building homes to live in. Ever since our
first sap boiling the following spring in 1997, we have
been growing and making improvements.
Today our maple syrup operation, with nearly 12,000 taps,
is the largest maple syrup producing sugar bush in the
state of Minnesota. We believe strongly in sustainable
agricultural and forestry practices and strive to follow
those principles in all our operations - from special
care of our maple trees to the use of recycled materials
in all our building projects. We are currently certified
organic through MOSA - Midwest Organic Services Association.
Our goal is to produce the best tasting, highest quality
maple syrup possible. Since our first crop in 1997,
we have won numerous awards, including two first-place
North American awards for Grade A Dark Amber syrup,
and two third-place awards (one in Grade A Light Amber,
another in Grade A Medium Amber). We have also won several
blue ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair, including
Best of Show on two separate occasions.
As we move forward into the future, we are committed
to providing the best maple syrup that we can produce
while maintaining sound forestry and business practices.
It is our hope that we will have given our children
and future grandchildren a good example by which to
live their lives.
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