Demand for Christmas trees from Swiss forests continues to increase and customers are buying earlier than in the past, says Philipp Gut, director of the IG Suisse Christbaum trade association. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Large retailers in particular are increasingly demanding locally grown trees item, he explains to the Awp news agency. In some cases, Swiss companies are even finding it difficult to meet the demand. But the development is judged to be cheering: "We hope the trend will continue," the expert notes. However, the organisation does not want to encourage operators to grow more on a large scale: demand can change rapidly, and given the slow pace of the industry, it is best to be cautious, as a Christmas tree takes seven to ten years to grow to the required size. Coop is the only retailer offering solely Swiss trees; however, foreign shrubs are found at the Jumbo branch, which is why for the group as a whole the domestic share is about ...
