The most wonderful time of the year comes with a checklist of important items: plenty of food, decorations, and for those observing Christmas, a tree. That last one is going to come with a bit of a financial hitch this year; expensive Christmas tree prices from last year are still high this year.
Fir, spruce, and pine trees are the favorites that people bring into their homes, decorate, water, and pick up after. Each one comes with costs to grow, maintain, and ship them and since those prices went up, so will the cost to buy these trees. Here’s what to expect this holiday season.
Christmas trees will continue to be more expensive than usual this year
The Real Christmas Tree Board surveyed 55 wholesale growers who provide 60% of the real – as opposed to artificial – Christmas trees to the United States. Among those, a third say they are experiencing an 11% to 15% increase in costs. Over a quarter said those increases are closer to 16% to 20%. Finally, 10% say their price increases are even greater than those ranges.
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“While our grower survey tells us wholesale prices are likely to be higher for real Christmas trees this year, our consumer survey tells us people expected as much,” says Marsha Gray, executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board. “The good news is fans of real Christmas trees say they believe the trees are worth the price and they are willing to pay more this year if necessary to get one — and that’s not a surprise either.”
What is and is not happening with these Christmas tree prices
While the Real Christmas Tree Board does not predict any inventory shortages, prices are expected to be higher due to increased costs among growers. https://t.co/1tploqP0vT
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) November 20, 2022
Gray also calls this “essentially a year without surprises.” That’s because the supply of real Christmas trees is not expected to be negatively impacted – only the price. “The majority — 67% of the wholesalers we talked to — said they expect to sell all the trees they plan to harvest this year,” Gray shared. The report continues, “In terms of volume, more than half — 55% — said they expect to sell about the same amount of real Christmas trees as they did last year. The balance was divided: Some expect to sell more, some less.” On the production side, Gray assures, “The real Christmas tree industry met demand last year and it will meet demand this year.”
Many areas are getting hit by inflation, including agriculture. On top of that, some important jobs are not being filled sufficiently. “Our trees are primarily transported on trucks. The trucking industry is facing a shortage,” explained Bob Shaefer, CEO of Noble Mountain Tree Farm. These prices are consistent with last year’s, but there has been some improvement this year since abundant Christmas tree supply follows three years of a shortage.
Do you use a real or artificial Christmas tree?
