Christmas tree production in Germany: strategies and options for establishing a regional label: is there room for a geographical indication?

Across Europe, Germany is the most important country in the production and consumption of Christmas trees. Pricing is cyclically asserved and depends mainly on the number of mature trees and on the potential occurrence of calamities caused by hail and late frost in the early summer. Due to the good market conditions in the recent years the offer has grown steadily, so in the coming years, a surplus trees is expected in comparision to past years. The aim of the study is to identify strategies in the Christmas tree market, needed to ensure for profitable production in the future. With the help of previous literature as well as expert interviews, insiders from within the market’s whole value chain were surveyed and gave their own estimates regarding future market developments. Based on this, our findings suggest that in the future differentiating options will be the determinating force with regard to a high profitability in the Christmas trees production. In this context, our analysis shows that legal protection in the form of a geographical indication could be advantageous for a successful positioning of producers on the market.