'Gourmet' Trees Attract New Customers
Dec. 9, 2004 — -- Looking for a tree to match your designer tastes? How about a Korean fir or a Nikko or a Fralsam?
If those breeds don't ring a bell, it's because they belong to a niche market of Christmas tree species that some farmers are developing to try and entice more people to choose real over artificial. It's one way tree sellers hope to beat back a U.S. trend toward choosing fake trees during the holidays.
"The tree business is down, and the artificial tree has had an impact," explained Ron Hudler, owner of Hudler Carolina Tree Farm in North Carolina and a marketing officer of the National Christmas Tree Association. "So there are a lot of people fooling around with new and exotic species."
Times have changed since the 1970s and '80s when most people who celebrated Christmas set up some species of pine tree in their homes come December. Artificial trees have since improved in quality and selection, with some coming complete with LED lights and themed decorations. Sales of artificial trees have risen 31 percent since 2001 and in the past few years, about 70 percent of American homes with trees had fake Christmas trees on display.
At the same time, real trees marketed for Christmas have changed too. Traditional pines and balsams are now considered somewhat bottom rung and have been replaced by leaders such as the Douglas Fir, the Noble Fir (like the one now up at the White House) from Oregon and Washington, and the Fraser Fir from the Carolinas.
Brian Ostlund of the Pacific Northwest Tree Association explains there has been a shift in the production of real trees. Smaller tree farms in the Northwest and mid-regions of the country have been dwindling in number while tree farms on the northern West Coast and in the Carolinas are producing most of the country's supply.
"We see production dropping in other areas," he said.
To survive, smaller tree farms across the country are working on developing unusual new breeds to attract customers. Since it takes at least eight years to develop a Christmas tree for sale, these breeds remain somewhat experimental and their cultivators commonly call them "exotic," "gourmet" or "premium" trees.
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