Wednesday, December 14, 2016

"If You Bought A Real Christmas Tree, You Paid 15 Cents To The Christmas Tree Promotion Board"

BF:
The board is a government-backed marketing program that’s devoted to protecting Christmas tree farmers against the threat posed by artificial trees, the industry’s arch nemesis. The uber-seasonal industry group, based in Colorado, is focused on “increasing the value and demand for cut Christmas trees.” And it has a state-mandated source of funding: by law, growers must pay $0.15 from every Christmas tree sold to the organization.

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Among other things, the board aims to maintain profitability for the country’s Christmas tree farmers, who a decade a ago confronted a serious oversupply problem as too many real trees were harvested and fake trees became more popular. Prices plummeted.