Nov 29, 2008

Ninutik Maple: Soaring above the airport gift shopBy Moira FarrTheGlobeandMail.com

Maple products have been Canadian staples for generations; airport gift shops are well stocked with boxes of leaf-shaped sugar and beige plastic mini-jugs of syrup. But for Toronto industrial designers Dianne Croteau and Richard Brault, this well-loved classic is not well served by traditional packaging.

“It gives the impression we’re still pioneers and lumberjacks,” says Croteau, who, while living in Italy, couldn’t help comparing these nostalgic Canadian gifts with the sophisticated treatment given to balsamic vinegars and olive oils.

The couple, who operate under the name Studio Innova, saw the creative potential in maple sugar and, with that in mind, headed to the drawing board. The result was a sideline business, Ninutik (the Ojibway word for maple sugar).

Using organic syrup tapped in Northern Ontario, the designers have worked with artists, patissiers and chocolatiers to come up with an array of sweet new presentations, from exquisite maple-filled and motifed chocolates to coin-shaped sugars perfect as a side with coffee to squeeze bottles and glass-blown containers for syrup. There’s a limited-edition porcelain bowl for raw maple sugar and caterers and corporate clients love the Sugar Bush, a forest of maple sugar lollipops. All the products are priced from $16 to $100.

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