Embark Maple

from B&E's Trees

Viroqua, Wisconsin

Located in the hills of Driftless Wisconsin Bree Breckel and Eric Weninger of B&E's Trees celebrate new adventures with Embark, a maple syrup-based product for endurance athletes. Embark mixes pure organic maple syrup with simple, organic, and sustainably sourced ingredients to create an all-natural concentrated energy product.

Good Energy

As a long-time athlete, who competes in endurance mountain bike racing and multi-sport adventures, Eric Weninger had the concept for Embark on his mind for over 12 years. He couldn’t stomach the commercial energy gels he took to sustain himself on backcountry bike camping adventures and instead tried taking pure maple syrup for the quick energy boost he needed. The effect was like a high-performance energy gel with the added benefit of delicious maple flavor. Through research, he discovered that maple syrup had the natural electrolytes and minerals that he needed plus, long-lasting energy. And the idea for Embark was born.

Maple farming is an adventure in itself. The season is dependent on things like spring weather, the integrity of tubing suspended in a forest filled with squirrels, and the singular moment when boiled sap reaches the syrup stage. During the pandemic Bree and Eric found solace in their woods. When they realized more people were gravitating outdoors to find a sense of normalcy they knew it was time to make their move. They went into development mode finally figuring out how to make, package, and distribute their energy adventure packs.

When it came to developing flavors, they sought the advice (and palettes) of local foodies, inlcuding a collaboration with Wonderstate Coffee of Viroqua, Wisconsin. The result was three tasty varieties: Salted Maple, Coffee Maple, and Elderberry Maple. Their focus on flavor, and a reusable cap, makes Embark a multi-use product that can be enjoyed straight from the pouch, mixed in water as a hydration aid, added to coffee, or used in culinary explorations in camp cooking and cocktails.

The Embark team spent much of last year handing out samples at endurance bike races all over the Midwest. "People like the flavors," Eric said, adding that "the performance is there, but people are most excited about how good it tastes!"

For Bree and Eric, everything they do comes back to the trees. When it came to naming their new product line Bree says, "It came to me while I was chopping wood. Embark! It conjures our sense of adventure while paying homage to the trees."

A Fleet of Foxes: Embark staff enjoying the mapley goodness

Pictured L to R: Justin M., Eric W., Bree B., and Laura W.H.

Environmental Stewardship

Caring for the land and having a positive impact on the environment is central to Bree and Eric’s operation. Bree states, “We live & farm off-grid, which guides our personal and business philosophy of doing more with less. We focus first on energy conservation, then production." In addition to being 1% For the Planet members, B&E's Trees is the first maple tree farm that is certified Climate Neutral - and they hope to pave the way for more maple farms to get the certification.

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Their commitment to conservation does not end with their woods. Bree and Eric are also concerned with their watershed. B&E’s Trees 184 acre, off-grid certified organic maple woods is located in the Timber Coulee and Coon Creek Watershed. This area had significant damage in the 2018 and 2019 floods with continued impact in more recent years. The community around the watershed continues to rebuild but also knows they have to do something different. To that end, they formed the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council (CCWC at cooncreekwatershed.org), a non-profit community group whose mission is the conservation and improvement of soil, water, and air in the Coon Creek Watershed. As active members of the CCWC, Bree and Eric work with other community members to adopt and adapt practices to make a more resilient watershed.

To find out more about Embark Maple, Bree and Eric’s adventures, community events, recipes, and more visit their website at www.bandestrees.com.

“the performance is there, but people are most excited about how good it tastes!”