According to growers, higher wages and increased transport costs are making domestic Christmas trees a little more expensive this year than last. “Inflation has had an impact in numerous sectors in recent months and the Christmas tree industry has not remained unaffected by it,” said Eberhard Hennecke from the Federal Association of Christmas Tree and Green Green Growers to the German Press Agency two months before the festival.
Hennecke estimates the price range for Nordmann firs to be around 21 to 29 euros per running meter. Last year the meter cost one euro less at its peak. The “slight price adjustment” is necessary to compensate for the cost increases and to continue to guarantee the quality of the trees. “We are firmly convinced that the value that real Christmas trees add to Christmas justifies the price,” said Hennecke, who also chairs the relevant specialist group in the North Rhine-Westphalia Horticultural Association. The wet spring and the long periods of heat and dryness did not harm the quality of the goods.
In recent years, according to the North Rhine-Westphalian Horticultural Association, between 23 and 25 million Christmas trees have been sold annually in Germany.
More and more customers – now one in four – are buying directly from the farm. The Nordmann fir is the most popular tree at the festival, followed by blue spruce and Nobilis. With around seven million Christmas trees, NRW is the main growing region in Germany.
