Aussies eager on having an evergreen tree of their residence this Christmas is likely to be left dissatisfied as a “perfect storm” has left growers struggling to satisfy demand.
With lower than three weeks to go earlier than the festive season begins, suppliers have been overwhelmed by callers “willing to pay anything to secure a tree”.
Victoria Christmas tree farm director Alex Costa says flooding over the previous few months had all however “wiped out” crops in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
“Everyone has low stock because of the weather,” he stated.
“I’ve got about 3000 trees I can’t get to because of how much water we’ve had.
“It’s probably about 25 per cent of this years’ crop and who knows if they’ll survive.”
The latest flooding has capped off three dangerous years alongside the jap coast of Australia, with situations introduced by three La Nina climate occasions unfavourable for rising timber.
“The past few years have been shocking,” Mr Costa says.
“I’ve lost about 80 per cent of each crop … I’ll put it this way, I’ve been put behind 12 years because they take four to five years to grow.”
Mr Costa says his business has been “inundated” by callers from throughout Australia trying to safe a tree, including that demand has grown considerably this 12 months.
“I don’t know why, nevertheless it‘ll be a good hit for our industry, perhaps after the gloomy lockdowns everyone wants to make this a magical one,” he said.
With short supply and increased demand comes higher prices, with Mr Costa saying he’d seen some opponents up their costs by greater than $50 a tree.
“We’ve had to increase by a few dollars, but this is a family business and we’re not in it to become millionaires overnight,” he stated.
“What matters most to me is having repeat customers get the best product.”
