Inflation has caused prices to rise across the board. From groceries to gas, everything has been affected. But the latest commodity to see prices rise are natural Christmas trees.
According to a new report from The New York Times, farm-grown Christmas trees are expected to be as much as 10% more than they were last year with tight supplies and other costs rising.
The Times spoke with Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association. O’Connor shared that tree prices this year are “going to go up.”
The association shared that the typical price of a cut evergreen was around $70 last year. Now O’Connor shared that the 10% increase is the association’s “best estimate” of how far prices would climb.
However, O’Connor warned that attempting to predict the costs of natural trees on retail lots is challenging, with Christmas trees often being sold at small farms and pop-up lots.
While O’Connor shared that reporting can sometimes be unreliable, making industry data hard to come by, the 10% isn’t far from another poll of 55 tree growers.
The poll, conducted by the Real Christmas Tree Board, found that almost 75% of growers thought their wholesale prices would be 5% to 15% higher.
But even while prices are on the rise, the poll also found that 85% of those surveyed thought “the price of a real Christmas tree is worth it.”
Even more so, 73% agreed with the statement that “If my personal holiday budget is tight this year, I will prioritize buying a real Christmas tree.”
Part of the reason for rising costs is the cost of growing the trees, from fertilizer and fuel to those who work on tree farms, National Christmas Tree Association spokesperson Jill Sidebottom shared with The Times.
On top of that, Sidebottom said they “anticipate a tight supply of trees,” as cut trees have been constrained for years. Add on that it takes 15 years of growth before a tree can be harvested, and the issue isn’t readily fixable, with trees being in short supply for “probably for another couple of years,” she added.
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