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Changing weather patterns and an [increase / decrease] in demand have led to a shortage [on / of] maple syrup. Worldwide stocks of everyone's favourite pancake [bottoming / topping] have gone down. This has caused Canada to [release / realize] 22 million kilograms of the sweet, [sticker / sticky] stuff into the market. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The [provincial / province] of Quebec produces almost three-quarters of [globally / global] supply. Canada keeps huge amounts of it for emergencies. The syrup it has just released is almost [halve / half] of those emergency reserves. A spokeswoman for Quebec's maple syrup producers said there would be [no / none] shortages. She said: "That's why the reserve is made....We won't [lack / slack] maple syrup."

A warmer spring this year [has / have] reduced syrup supplies. Maple trees need warm daytime and freezing nighttime temperatures [to / for] produce syrup. A warmer and shorter spring led [on / to] a poorer harvest than usual. Another factor is worldwide demand for maple syrup. This has increased [of / by] more than 20 per cent this year. One [major / majority] reason for this rise is the coronavirus pandemic. More people are [in / at] home, cooking pancakes and waffles. It is possible that more of [us / they] have developed a sweet tooth. The Quebec spokeswoman said: "The pandemic helped our [bag / case] because we're seeing people cook more at home and [use / useful] more local products. It's not just in Quebec where the demand [are / is] increasing."