Maple Sugar Rush

New flavor trends that come into favor in restaurants and homes typically spur marketers to consider collaborations that bring brands associated with those flavors into new categories. Examples in recent years range from cereal and cinnamon to pickles, all of which have made their way into a variety of pairings, both logical and unexpected. Some of the recent trending tastes have fallen more on the novelty side of the spectrum (e.g., mac and cheese, combined with things like ice cream and alcohol). Others become enduring favorites that appear in a wide variety of products, both sweet and savory, on an ongoing basis (e.g., hot sauce).

A relatively new addition to the list: maple syrup. The sweet liquid has been the focus of several collaborations of late involving breakfast-related brands, resulting in either syrup-flavored foods and beverages or flavored syrups:

• In April 2024, IHOP brought back its collaboration with Pepsi for maple syrup cola, first introduced as a social media giveaway in 2022. This time around, the drink is available on menus in IHOP locations nationwide, in a float with vanilla ice cream. Separately, the restaurant chain partnered with General Mills at the end of 2022 for a limited-edition IHOP Blueberry & Syrup Mini Pancake Cereal, available at retail. (The chain currently offers an IHOP Blueberry Pancake Cereal in its stores.) The idea came from a pandemic-era TikTok trend where users were making tiny pancakes and sharing with the hashtag #pancakecereal.

• Con Agra’s Mrs. Butterworth’s brand paired with Dunkin’ for Mrs. Butterworth’s Dunkin’ Glazed Donuts Flavored Pancake Syrup, a new flavor available in grocery retail channels starting in January 2024. In introductory marketing materials, the product was positioned as being good for nontraditional combinations, such as with oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit, as well as on pancakes and waffles.

• In December 2023, Kellogg and Nestlé’s CoffeeMate partnered for CoffeeMate Eggo Waffles with Maple Syrup Creamer, with “notes of toasty waffles, rich maple syrup, and warm butter.” Earlier in 2023, Kellogg paired with Sugarlands Distilling to create its second collaborative limited-edition liqueur, Eggo Brunch in a Jar Sippin’ Cream, with the flavors of Eggo waffles, maple syrup, butter, and bacon. This was a follow-up to the companies’ release of the holiday-themed Eggo Nog Appalachian Sippin’ Cream in October 2022. Kellogg also married its own Eggo and Pop-Tarts brands in December 2021 to create Eggo Frosted Maple Syrup Pop-Tarts, with a waffle-like yellow crust and a waffle-inspired yellow-on-white icing grid pattern, in addition to a maple-flavored filling.

• Back in 2020, two of the brands in PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats division, Aunt Jemima and Cap’n Crunch, combined to produce two products: Cap’n Crunch’s Ocean Blue Artificially Maple Flavored Syrup and Cap’n Crunch’s Berrytastic Pancake Mix; the latter did not include maple syrup flavor. Both products are still available in select retail outlets.

The global maple syrup market reached $1.44 billion in sales in 2023, according to Fortune Business Insights. North America, where maple trees are native, dominates the sector, accounting for $1.09 billion (75.7%) of the total. The researcher predicts strong sales increases in the coming years, forecasting a compound annual growth rate of 6.91% from 2024 through 2032, when global sales are expected to reach $2.62 billion.

Drivers of the expansion, Fortune Business Insights says, include the product’s health properties—a high concentration of phenolic compounds and minerals including zinc, potassium, and manganese, making it a desirable substitute for sugar and other sweeteners—and more demand outside of North America, including in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. It should be noted that most of the licensed and collaborative products mentioned include maple flavor rather than real maple syrup, which eliminates the health play.