Roughly six months from the holidays, six buyers from three Southeast Asian countries have come to Oregon to take a mid-summer’s look this week at the top US producer of Christmas trees. The inbound trade mission, organized by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, gives buyers from the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia an up-close opportunity to see how Christmas trees are grown and cared for, Oregon-style. Along the way, they will visit with producers of cut greens and flowers as part of a full menu of holiday offerings from Oregon. While sales of Christmas trees and cut greens remains the ultimate goal, the focus of this mission is to educate the buyers on the basics. “Many times, there is this misconception overseas that we go out and cut trees from the forest,” says ODA Trade Manager Theresa Yoshioka, who is coordinating the week-long activities. “We really want to educate these buyers on the fact that our Christmas trees are a crop, just like a vegetable crop. In this case, these crops grow for seven years before harvest instead of just one season.” Christmas trees aren’t harvested until late fall and won’t be shipped out of Oregon until October or so. But now is a good time for the buyers to see how growers manage the trees and ask questions. “We want to show the full picture of the Oregon Christmas tree industry,” says Yoshioka. Buyers are seeing much more than trees. One of the stops this week was a visit to the Portland Flower Market. Later on, they will learn more about holiday greenery that include garlands, wreaths, and holly– the supporting cast for a vibrant seasonal display. There is also a scheduled stop at a decorative pumpkin and gourd farm. The main attraction, however, is the Oregon Christmas tree. “Oregon Christmas trees are definitely high quality, but to see them yourself, you can really understand the process it takes for Oregon growers to ship out a tree,” says Ryan Chioh, managing director of Floristika.com.my in Malaysia. “Nothing beats coming out to the field and seeing it yourself.” Chioh is hoping to come away from the week-long visit to Oregon with a better way to convince more customers back in Southeast Asia to buy live Christmas trees instead of ones made of plastic. “When I talk to them about buying a live Christmas tree, some of my friends still have the impression that the trees are not eco-friendly,” he says. “But when you do the research, you find out they are much more eco-friendly than artificial ones. I want to learn how to overcome customer perception.” A visit to the Kirk Company’s operations in Clackamas County provided the buyers a chance to see procedures for handling and inspection prior to shipment. At McKenzie Farms outside of Oregon City, the group witnessed a demonstration of Christmas tree shearing and a display of the different tree varieties that are grown in the state. A tour of Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora provided a forum to discuss Christmas tree research. The agenda concludes with a Christmas tree seminar at the Oregon Garden in Silverton as well as additional farm tours, including Noble Mountain Tree Farm in Salem to highlight sustainable certification. Along the way, several ODA staff members are participating. “Our goal is to educate these buyers about the procedures, inspections, and certifications our agency provides,” says Yoshioka. “We will also have ODA experts talking about the relationships we’ve built with government agencies and organizations in other countries, such as Mexico, that have helped facilitate the export of Christmas trees.” Growing about 6.5 million trees annually, Oregon remains the nation’s leading producer of Christmas trees. ODA plays an essential role in the export of Oregon Christmas trees. Inspectors check to make sure trees bound for other states and countries are as pest and disease-free as possible. If the inspection goes well, the shipper receives a phytosanitary certificate– essentially a passport for the trees to enter the destination country. ODA nursery inspector Karl Puls greeted the Asian buyers at Kirk Company with a rigid white cloth that is placed below the tree when limbs are shaken to see if anything drops out– sort of the white glove treatment for Christmas tree inspection. Taking the group out in the field, Puls demonstrated the normal process an inspector uses to certify that the trees are free of pests of concern. Mexico remains Oregon’s leading export market for Christmas trees, by far. Still, a sizable portion of the production makes its way across the Pacific Ocean. Last year, 22 phytosanitary certificates were issued for trees bound for Singapore, another six for the Philippines, and two for Malaysia. There is plenty of opportunity to increase those numbers, which is why ODA is using a portion of a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant to promote Christmas tree exports and bring the buyers to Oregon. “We are looking to expand the number of trees going into Southeast Asia right now,” says Yoshioka. “Clearly, in some of these countries, not every household is going to want to decorate for the Christmas holiday, but a segment of the population will. At a minimum, retail sectors of these countries definitely want to put up Christmas trees in the department stores and malls, encouraging the consumer side of the holiday.” Surprisingly, there are plenty of households in a country like Malaysia looking for a Christmas tree. “Even though Malaysia is predominantly Muslim, it is multi-cultural in the central part of the county, which includes the largest city of Kuala Lumpur,” says Chioh. “You can find a lot of expatriates who love the Christmas tree because it reminds them of home.” With growing populations and increasing affluence, targeted countries in Southeast Asia are now more likely to purchase an Oregon Christmas tree than ever before. That’s why an Oregon sales pitch on its home turf in the middle of summer makes sense.
