Maple Jack: A Small Maple Syrup Business In Westwood #ShopSmall

Westwood High School junior Jack Folscado’s maple syrup business, Maple Jack, is currently selling this year’s batch of maple syrup for $18 per bottle. “Three years ago, I started making maple syrup, inspired by a family friend who did it in Western Massachusetts. I start by getting the sap from the trees in my yard and boiling it down on my stovetop. I had about 10 taps. Last year, I purchased a Vermont Maple evaporator and a maple syrup filter to start selling the syrup I produced from the now 35 taps I had. This year, I bought a shed to convert into a syrup shack as well as more taps for a total of 75 this year. I also got a reverse osmosis machine to not only filter the sap but to also take water out of the sap and speed up the evaporation process,” explains Folscado.

“I gather the sap using taps in the maple trees in my backyard [in Westwood] that trickle down into a pail or maple sap bag. After a good sap run, I go out and empty each bag/ pail individually and empty it into one of two 55 gallon gathering tanks where it is run through the reverse osmosis system,” he says.

Foscado’s orders for Maple Jack are hand-delivered by him. “I think it is really valuable to produce a product like this in Westwood, out of my own backyard. It has taught me how to run a small business, and I will use that to leverage me in college and beyond,” he concludes.

If you want to order a bottle of Westwood’s Maple Jack maple syrup, you can order a bottle on their website. You can also like their page on Facebook.