North America Christmas Tree Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

North America Christmas Tree Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The North American Christmas tree market is estimated to witness a CAGR of around 4.3% during the forecast period (2022-2027).

The COVID-19 outbreak and the 2008 recession led to a shortage of Christmas trees because growing trees takes 8-12 years. At the height of the recession in 2008, farmers had little incentive to plant trees at their typical levels. A combination of these factors made Christmas trees harder to find and more expensive in the past year. The COVID-19 outbreak also had a significant impact on the market. A growing awareness of environmental sustainability among the millennials compared to artificial variants, coupled with a paradigm shift in production since the last recession, augmented the sales of fresh-cut real Christmas trees in the region in recent years. The price-competitiveness is expected to further drive the sales of real Christmas trees in the region during the forecast period. Real trees were sold at an average price of USD 81.0 per tree in United States, against USD 107.0 for a fake tree in 2019, aided by wider accessibility to freshly cut farm trees through online and offline retail platforms. United States was the largest market for Christmas trees in 2019. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, the retail sales value of the Christmas trees reached USD 2.56 billion in 2018, an increase of about 25.5% from USD 2.04 billion in 2016. Moreover, the sales volume in 2018 rose by almost 5 million, despite a rise in average prices by USD 5.0 compared to the previous year, as stated by Tim O’Connor, Executive Director of The National Christmas Tree Association.

The growing demand for real Christmas trees can be primarily attributed to environmental consciousness driving consumers' purchase decisions, as millennial households are increasingly looking for biodegradable and recyclable options. This factor further corroborates a shortage in the domestic supply in the region, as trees, once planted, need 7-10 years to grow. Although a sizeable portion of trees planted in eastern Canada is shipped to United States every year, demand in the destined market still outpaces the exports. Real Christmas trees can also be recycled for a considerable amount of time without any underlying threat to the environment and can also be turned into mulch or biofuel. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, although the average price of a real Christmas tree reached USD 81.0 in United States in 2018, it was followed by an unchanged demand during the year, while a PVC tree costing USD 107.0 on average witnessed 21.1 million sales during the same year. In Canada, the demand has grown by almost 15% since 2015. With a declining number of farms amid a shortage in operations by senior farmers, a new wave of young farmers is expected to fill the documented gap in the country, thus stabilizing the domestic supply in response to the growing demand in the coming years. Moreover, in 2018, Amazon responded to the reinvigorated trend of purchasing real Christmas trees by beginning to ship live trees, including Douglas firs and Norfolk Island pines, across the region.

United States remained the largest market for Christmas trees in North America in 2019. As per the National Christmas Tree Association, the total retail sales of real Christmas trees in the country reached USD 2.56 billion in 2018 compared to USD 1.32 billion in 2015. The Association also reported that 26.2 million real Christmas trees were purchased in 2018. Retail chains such as Choose & Cut Farm contributed the highest share of 32.0%, followed by Walmart, Home Depot, and Loews, which contributed a share of 24% in the retail sales during the same year, as well as retail lots (17.0%) and nurseries and garden centers (13.0%). Furthermore, the growing inclination of millennial consumers toward traditional and environmentally sustainable trees is further anticipated to lead the market’s growth during the forecast period.

The market for Christmas trees in North America is highly fragmented, as numerous players occupy the market with annual supplies of Christmas trees throughout the region. The players are vying for a significant market share by expanding franchises in strategic locations across the country. Moreover, some players operate an extensive distribution network and retail partnerships to cater to the growing demand across all major countries in North America. Some of the most active companies selling real Christmas trees include JG Brands, Mr. Jingle's Christmas Trees, Big John's Trees, Tree Towne Christmas Trees, Santa's Trees, Grobe's Nursery and Garden Centre, Z & Z Christmas Trees, and Bastein Christmas Tree Farm.

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