Christmas tree shortage means higher prices for Hawaii this year

Sellers of Christmas trees in Honolulu say there will be a shorter supply this year, resulting in an uptick of prices this holiday season.

Richard Tajiri of Christmas Hawaii said noble firs in particular, the most popular variety, were limited, resulting in a cutback to the number he brought from Washington state this year.

“There was a shortage of nobles last year and it got worse this year,” said Tajiri, who has been selling Christmas trees for more than 40 years in Hawaii. “This year, I’m really short on nobles because of the summer heat. The summer heat was so bad it sunburned a lot of the trees.”

Overall, he expects to be able to offer 4,000 trees, about 500 fewer than he did last year, at his Christmas tree lot at the former Varsity Theatre on University Avenue starting 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The mix will include extra Nordmann firs to make up for the shortage of nobles, as well as Fraser and Douglas firs and smaller trees measuring 2 to 4 feet tall, which Tajiri said have been popular over the last two years. Due to the shortage of nobles, there was a higher-than-usual demand for the other firs as well.

Tajiri said he has not raised his prices in 15 years, but that the 6-foot nobles will start at $106 this year, up from $97 last year.

The state Department of Agriculture expects 170 containers of Christmas trees to be shipped to Hawaii this year, down from 212 last year, according to Jonathan Ho, acting manager of the plant quarantine branch. Each 20- to 40-foot container contains about 500 trees, but can vary depending on the size of the trees.

As of this week, the state had inspected and passed 145 of the containers for pests, including yellow jackets, slugs and snails. Two were on hold due to pest determination.

Habilitat, the nonprofit addiction treatment center in Kaneohe, is also feeling the impact from the shortage of Christmas trees this year after more than 40 years of selling them.

“It started a couple of years ago but we’re starting to feel the effects of it, last year and this year,” said Habilitat spokesman Harrison White. “We are still going forward because our tree sales aren’t just a for-profit thing. It’s a fundraiser.”

The tree sales help Habilitat fund scholarships, vocational training and education programs.

Habilitat wanted 7,000 trees, but was able to secure only about 5,000 to sell this year at four locations — Stadium Mall, Central Union Church, Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center and Kapolei Commons — starting 8 a.m. Saturday.

Noble firs, available for preorder, are already sold out, Harrison said, but there are also grands, Douglases and Nordmanns ranging from 2 to 10 feet tall, as well as wreaths. The lots will be open daily until the trees are sold out.

City Mill began selling Christmas trees at its eight stores on Oahu earlier this week, but will be down 25 percent this year overall to about 3,000, with fewer nobles than last year, according to senior merchant Andrea Long.

For the last decade, Long said City Mill has purchased trees from Kirk Co. in Washington state.

“Both for this year and next year they expect a shortage on trees,” she said. “There’s more of a market shortage than in the recent past.”

Costs for 5- to 6-foot nobles went up about 20 percent this year and start at $95.98, while Douglas firs start at $46.98, she said. The same volume of Douglas firs will still be available. City Mill offers on-site trimming services.

Local farms, on the other hand, report steady tree availability this year.

Pat O’Brien, owner of Helemano Farms in Wahiawa, which sells Norfolk pines and Leyland cypress evergreens, said there will be a good supply this year.

The farm, which begins tree sales the day after Thanksgiving, will have more cypress varieties this year, starting at $70 and up.

Tajiri said besides an unusually hot and dry summer in Washington state this year, there are other factors, including the time it takes to grow a 6-foot noble fir, which is 10 to 12 years. In addition, many tree farmers in the Pacific Northwest are retiring without new generations to replace them.

The shortage is nationwide, confirmed Marsha Gray, spokeswoman for the National Christmas Tree Association, in part because fewer trees were planted when the economy was down nine years ago.

“We do have fewer trees going to market this year,” she said. “It’s something we’re feeling not just in the Pacific Northwest but across the country. The whole country’s feeling it a little bit. In a couple of years it will change.”

Tajiri said he knows of a few Christmas tree vendors that will not make it this year. He returns every year to visit his mother on Maui and plans to sell trees in Hawaii as long as he can. His lot will stay open until he sells out, usually mid- December.

“I enjoy meeting the people, seeing my friends,” he said. “I’ve got families buying trees from me for 40 years.”