Score one for the Grinch.
Christmas trees, it turns out, aren’t immune from inflationary and supply chain pressures—and as a result, prices are on the rise.
The average Tannenbaum in 2021 is going to be between 10% and 30% more expensive than last year, reports the Associated Press. That’s for both live trees and artificial ones. And expect a smaller number of options to choose from, as well.
The reason for the hikes is the perfect storm of increased demand, lower supply and snarls in the delivery process.
Americans embraced the holiday season fervently in 2020, looking for some cheer in a very gloomy year. That led some tree farms to sell-out of product and even sell trees that weren’t fully mature. On top of that, farmers cut back in planting in 2009 during the recession—and it takes up to 10 years for a Christmas tree to reach maturity and be ready for sale.
Artificial trees, meanwhile, are largely made overseas, which makes them vulnerable to the broader supply chain issues retailers are struggling with this year. Some stores are still waiting for their shipments to come in.
That’s not cooling consumer demand, though, as people are still looking to celebrate the holidays in extravagant fashion. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates some 13.9 million Christmas trees will be cut and sold this year, a 400,000 increase over last year.
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