the Christmas tree market | France

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The christmas tree market in France includes the production and sale of Christmas trees at the national level: Christmas trees can be natural or artificial according to consumer preference. There are several varieties of natural Christmas trees such as Spruce and Nordmann Fir (the most popular), but also Pectin Fir and Spruce Fir.

Nearly 5 million households buy a Christmas tree each year, to which can be added the purchases of Christmas trees from local authorities, municipalities and companies: the customer pool is therefore global and diversified. The buyers showed a preference for the natural tree to the detriment of artificial firs, which account for less than 20% of sales each year. Appreciated for its strength and longevity, Nordmann fir dominates the market with more than 50% of the market's turnover (by volume) far ahead of spruce.

The Christmas tree market is logically concentrated over a very short period of time and is therefore cyclical . The supermarkets (department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and garden centres) account for more than a third of sales of natural fir trees, and less than half of sales of artificial trees. Second, specialized garden centres account for nearly 20% of purchases of natural firs and 11% of purchases of artificial trees.

A large number of tree producers are concentrated in Burgundy and Morvan. As sales are ad hoc and fragile, most nurserymen consider the tree as a secondary activity. However, production in France is not sufficient to meet demand with a trade deficit . France therefore meets only one fifth of its needs. Denmark (the world's largest exporter) and Belgium are the main suppliers. The French market is made up of producers such as Noël Vert and Sarl Curti, importers such as Du Frou and nurseries such as Naudet, Altitude 500 (in Belgium).