Sweet News: Local Sugar Shack featured on HGTV Canada

A deeply rooted local family business was recently featured on HGTV Canada’s Bryan’s All In.

Owned and operated by the Partridge and Vandergeest families, Backwoods Maple Syrup, located in Coldwater, opened in 2006.

Owning a sugar shack has been a lifelong dream for co-owner Corey Vandergeest, who teamed up with Tyler Partridge and his father Paul to start the business.

“My grandfather made syrup when I was a kid,” he explained. “When Tyler and I were in high school, we’d hang some buckets and try.

In their first season, Backwoods produced 40 liters of maple syrup despite having to overcome numerous challenges that came with being new to the industry.

Backwoods continued to grow into something bigger each year and eventually moved to their current location at 1664 Anderson Line. The 40-acre property was the perfect spot for the sugar shack, the owners say.

“It took a lot of hard work,” Vandergeest said. “Like anything in agriculture, it’s not easy.”

Bryan Baeumler, who travels the country helping entrepreneurs renovate their businesses, chose to help Backwoods because of a deep connection to the business and its owners.

“My wife Abby used to babysit for them,” Vandergeest explained. “He did that for almost two years while they built their house in Campbellville.”

When Backwoods saw the casting call, they jumped at the opportunity.

“I saw the casting call while we were building the hut,” Vandergeest said. “They were looking for young entrepreneurs starting a rural business in Canada.”

Being featured on HGTV Canada was a “one of a kind” experience, says Vandergeest.

“I’ve never done a TV show before,” he said. “It was a little different.”

The TV crew brought in some carpenters to help the Backwoods finish renovating their new sugar shack.

“They were able to get us some products,” Vandergeest said. “We were able to work off each other and it was nice to get it all done.”

Vandergeest says working with Baeumler and his team was a “good experience.”

The new shack, which was completed on Bryan’s All In, will serve as a spring attraction for the community.

“We didn’t want to just build a generic store,” Vandergeest said. “We wanted to get to a place where people want to come and see.”

Since the show aired, Vandergeest says it has attracted new customers to the establishment.

“We’ve had a lot of orders from across Canada,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people call who want to come and see the hut.”

Appearing on HGTV Canada makes Backwoods Maple Syrup a hit at an unusual time.

“Typically, we don’t have a lot of people trying to get out to the store in the off-season,” Vandergeest said. “So that was a bit of a change.”

New episodes of Bryan’s All In air Sundays at 10pm on HGTV Canada. Past episodes can be streamed on STACKTV.