Poles' favorite Christmas tree. “About 90 percent of sales”

The president of the Association of Foresters and Forest Owners, Stefan Traczyk, when asked about the prices at which private businesses will sell Christmas trees before Christmas, said that they should be at a similar level to last year. Last year, the media reported that the average prices of Christmas trees ranged from approximately PLN 30 to PLN 300, depending on the species and size.

– I think that Christmas tree prices will be similar to last year, there is quite a lot of competition, so it may turn out that the prices will remain the same – said Traczyk. However, PAP's interlocutor emphasized that the association he heads does not trade Christmas trees as such, although “many forest owners are also somehow related to this market.”

Traczyk added that he had not heard of Polish entrepreneurs exporting Christmas trees, because growing them takes a long time.

However, he pointed out that some of the Christmas trees sold in Poland come to our country from abroad. – Many Christmas trees sold on the Polish market are produced on plantations in north-western Poland, but many are also imported from abroad, for example from Denmark – said Traczyk.

Regarding the import of Christmas trees to Poland, Artur Łuczak, coordinator of their sales to the Eastern European market from Green Product A/S Denmark, emphasized that this market is constantly developing. On the Internet you can find companies that have plantations on the Jutland Peninsula and offer Christmas trees for sale in our country.

Łuczak explains that mainly Caucasian fir is imported from Denmark, which constitutes “about 90 percent of sales throughout Poland.” Denmark is considered the capital of Caucasian fir in many varieties. The company's representative explained that this is due to the fact that the tree needs specific climatic conditions, and in “the center of Poland it does not grow (…) it simply freezes.”

– In Denmark, the climate is more maritime and mild, where the Caucasian fir grows very well – he emphasized.

In Poland, Caucasian fir plantations are located, among others, in Gdańsk Pomerania (Wicko area) and Będzinek (West Pomeranian Voivodeship) and are run by private entrepreneurs.

– Currently, fir prices have become very expensive due to the fact that there are fewer and fewer plantations (…) its prices are increasing dramatically, from year to year up to 30 percent – explained Łuczak.

He informed that wholesale Caucasian fir costs up to EUR 20 (approx. PLN 85), adding that “we are talking about net prices plus transport costs.”