OK, so subsidies were cut in Denmark leading to a drop in planting, leading to a shortage in this country of Christmas trees. OK, fine. So prices here should go up. Which they are.
Although Nordmann firs are grown on plantations in Britain there are not enough to meet the annual demand. The British Christmas Tree Growers Association is advising its members to limit price increases to 20 per cent. The extra cost will be passed on to customers at garden centres and markets this Christmas.
Err, hang on a minute. A central trade body offering recommended price rises? Isn’t that, err, a cartel? As in illegal collusion to screw the consumer?
Why aren’t they being prosecuted?
6 responses so far ↓
1 sanbikinoraion // Oct 24, 2007 at 10:27 am
Yes, but you’ll note that it is recommending a maximum price increase. That is, making it cheaper for consumers.
2 dearieme // Oct 24, 2007 at 12:24 pm
cheaper in the short run, perhaps, sanbi, but what of the long run? Ok, OK, in the long run we are all dead.
3 Jim Winfield // Oct 24, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Why was Denmark subsidising British Christmas trees in the first place?
Or did they subsidise planting overall, and the Christmas production is a by-product – when the plantation is thinned out for forest management reasons. I believe that is the case in other countries.
4 Philip Thomas // Oct 24, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Why is the opinion of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association relevant when these things are grown in Scandinavia?
5 Richard Underwood // Oct 25, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Having attended a meeting of the British Christmas Trees Growers Association today I can tell you that most of us are actually reluctant to increase our prices (being aware that artificial trees can be an alternative) but we find ourselves in a supply and demand situation where we may struggle to supply every type of tree.
The Danish Government was subsidising Danish Trees. British Growers have never received any subsidy or encouragement from our Government….I think rather the opposite, in fact.
Christmas Trees are seldom a “by product” of forestry these days, they are a long term crop planted specifically for a purpose.
6 Jim Winfield // Oct 25, 2007 at 9:16 pm
When I lived in Israel, 20 years ago, Christmas trees were a by-product. The National Fund which ran the forests thinned them out in December. Christian organisations received them free as a goodwill gesture – we got a truck-load dropped off at our Christian community of 100 adults. Special case though – there’s not much of a commercial market for Christmas trees there.
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