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Canton resident to appear on Shark Tank TV show Oct. 21 showcasing Parker’s Real Maple

Posted 10/14/16

By MATT LINDSEY CANTON — Josh Parker, CEO of Parker Maple Farm, who will appear on Shark Tank on Friday, Oct. 21 says he will use the experience as a “platform to grow his business.” The show …

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Canton resident to appear on Shark Tank TV show Oct. 21 showcasing Parker’s Real Maple

Posted

By MATT LINDSEY

CANTON — Josh Parker, CEO of Parker Maple Farm, who will appear on Shark Tank on Friday, Oct. 21 says he will use the experience as a “platform to grow his business.”

The show Parker will be on, episode 806, will be shown on ABC at 9 p.m..

Parker said he attended the taping this summer in Los Angeles, Cali.

“It was an experience I will never forget,” he said. “It was my first time to LA making everything new to me. I had a few days to explore the city which made it a well rounded trip.”

Parker started his maple business in 2009 at 11 years old, when he borrowed 15 buckets and produced three pints of maple syrup in his mother's kitchen.

In 2014, his business harvested sap from 3,500 taps and produced maple syrup using reverse osmosis and a new wood pellet boiler.

Shark Tank is an American reality television series that premiered Aug. 9, 2009, on ABC. The show is a franchise of the international format Dragons' Den, which originated in Japan in 2001. The show highlights aspiring entrepreneur-contestants who make business presentations to a panel of "shark" investors, who then choose whether or not to invest.

He said he went to Shark Tank with the company he started at age 15, Parker’s Real Maple.

“Over the past year Parker’s has really gone through some exciting changes -- with updated branding and innovative, new maple products that are making real maple an everyday item,” Parker said.

“Being in front of some of the greatest business minds in America while cameras were rolling to share the experience with the nearly 10 million Shark Tank viewers was of course nerve wracking -- but in situations like that, being outwardly nervous just simply cannot be an option,” he said. “I just kept repeating to myself that passion is contagious the opportunity was once in a life time and prayed for success, not knowing what that success might look like.”

Parker said after the show airs that his business will continue to grow.

“Shark Tank is a tremendous platform to grow a company from, with its huge and loyal viewership offering the ingredients necessary to build a national brand.

Parker said the Shark Tank brand resonates with nearly every American, so he will use this to enter new markets and bring real maple to places it has never been.

“I believe this opportunity will position us uniquely within the industry to make Parker’s the most well known and most desired brand of real maple in America …all coming from right here in Canton,” he said.

Parker’s passion for maple began on a school field trip when he was 11 years old. After learning how, he went home and made some on his stove. The next year he made more in his backyard and a few years later when he was 15, he decided he wanted to make a business out of it.

“I began putting together a business plan by learning about what equipment would be needed, how much it would cost, what we could make, etc. and presented it to my dad,” Parker said. “After a few months of convincing, he helped me get a loan from the bank and lent me money to pursue my dreams. He has really been the reason this has all been possible.”

In 2013 Parker’s business went through an expansion, leading to his first year of industrial production in 2014.

That year he made a few thousand gallons rather than just 15 one year earlier. The next step was building the brand and selling the product into stores.

“Today we are in about 550 stores nationally and growing quickly,” he said. “I used to dream of having a real production facility, real employees, and real sales … today, that is a reality.

“I believe Shark Tank will only help me be able to achieve my dreams,” he said.

Read more about Josh Parker and Parker Maple Farm at parkermaple.com.

More info about the show: http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank.