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The online retailer Amazon has started stocking its orders this month for its first delivery of real Christmas trees. Customers can expect that a seven foot Norfolk Douglas fir or Norfolk pine, cut fresh and bound without water, will be delivered to the company's cardboard boxes in 10 days after purchase.
For many existing companies, Amazon's diversified markets often seek unbridled competition in historically small areas.
According to a report by Forbes published in 2018, Amazon, which holds nearly 50% of the US e-commerce market, has radically changed the world of retailing over the last 10 years.
Local Christmas tree producers said they were not bothered by their new competitors.
"We welcome Amazon to the market," said Mary Jeanne Packer, executive director of the Christmas Tree Farmers Association in New York.
Ms Packer said that she did not think that Amazon's entry into the real tree industry would undermine the local market, but instead hoped that online sales would strengthen it.
Amazon's trees must come from somewhere, "she said. The company has contracts with a number of farms across the country to stock new products, including wreaths and garlands made from real trees.
According to the New York Christmas Tree Growers' Association, about 875 farms produce 17,000 acres of traditional Christmas trees in New York each year.
Americans bought 27.4 million real Christmas trees last year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. Of these, online sales accounted for only 1 to 2%.
Packer said he expects this number to increase, as more and more people give up their artificial trees for the sake of authenticity and even the nostalgic smell of "real life" experience. # 39; tree. "
In the sixty years that artificial trees have been mass-produced and commercially available in the United States, consumers have often been attracted by the convenience of an artificial tree or by their own lack of access – by their location or physical capabilities – real assets. each.
Now, some people are even embarrassed to admit that they have artificial trees, Packer said, while awareness of the associated environmental and health risks is spreading.
According to a study by the National Institute of Health, the amount of lead contained in artificial Christmas trees made from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, can potentially constitute a "significant risk to the health of young children" .
PVC is not biodegradable or degradable, according to experts. Artificial trees made from PVC may not break down for a thousand years.
While the real tree market is gaining momentum thanks to Amazon, wholesale retailers, which enjoy a geographic and commercial advantage over small farms, face increased competition.
Last year, wholesale retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe's accounted for 26% of actual Christmas tree sales in the United States, according to NCTA data. "Pick and cut" type operations outperformed the competition with 27% of sales.
The state of New York is home to about 875 Christmas tree farms, said Packer, the majority of which are a la carte businesses. Among the farms participating in the wholesale market, she said that very few contracts with large companies.
Instead, most farms provide local third-party resellers, often non-profit groups such as Scout Troops and churches, a market that Packer says will also coexist with Amazon.
"I can not imagine anyone who has always bought his tree from the local scouts to abandon it suddenly and start buying from Amazon," she said.
For many, the process of selecting a Christmas tree is steeped in tradition and nostalgia, whether it is a pre-cut selection in a lot or the obligation to travel to the countryside to cut one. in a farm.
For George Lundin, owner and founder of Lundin Christmas Trees in Otego, the Christmas tree business is a family affair.
With his wife Sue and their children, Lundin has been growing trees for generations for 34 years.
Lundin said that he thought that "the relationships of a lifetime begin with a seasonal visit".
Visitors to Lundin Farm have the opportunity to choose and cut their own tree, but a dozen employees are also available to help cut, carry, shake and fell trees at no extra cost.
"We are trying to provide a good product at a reasonable price, adapted to the local market," he said.
Lundin said he was striving to reinvest in the local economy, buying tractors, four-wheeled vehicles and other supplies from as many local sellers as possible. He also hires high school students and university students for the seasonal work on the farm.
Lundin said, "Good luck to them," said Lundin.
Sarah Eames, Editor-in-Chief, can be reached at [email protected] or 607-441-7213. Follow @DS_SarahE on Twitter.
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