Christmas tree growers are expecting stable prices for Christmas trees this year. The prices are likely to be in the range of 20 to 27 euros per meter for the Nordmann fir, said Benjamin Schneebecke, first chairman of the Association of Natural Christmas Trees based in Moisburg, Lower Saxony.
“The higher prices must certainly be paid in the metropolises such as Hamburg or Munich, the cheaper ones in the country,” said Schneebecke. The prices this year are at the same level as last year. He was not aware of any significant price increases.
Finding employees is becoming increasingly difficult
However, an increase in prices is to be expected in the coming years. Many growers are likely to quit in the future. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find employees,” said Schneebecke. That puts off many younger entrepreneurs who then didn’t want to take over their parents’ business. Every year around 27 million Christmas trees are sold in Germany with a turnover of between 500 and 550 million euros. Around 90 percent comes from agricultural and forestry family businesses, explained Schneebecke. Around ten percent of the Christmas trees are exported: “Germany is the largest Christmas tree producer in Europe.”
The business is no longer worthwhile for many companies, said Bernd Oelkers, state chairman of the Association of Christmas Tree and Greenery Producers in Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen. On the one hand there is a generation change; the younger generation does not want to deal with this complicated business. A Christmas tree producer has to invest up to 15 years in advance. The trees usually grow for nine to ten years before they are felled and sold. But Oelkers also referred to the difficulty of finding employees. “It’s become a huge topic.”
But even the past dry years are likely to lead to a lower supply of domestic Christmas trees in three to four years, said Schneebecke. In recent years, some of the still young trees have dried up. On the other hand, the older trees are less sensitive to dry periods. “The big trees are much less susceptible to this problem.”
