From forest to front room: A race against time to deliver the UAE's Christmas trees

Right now, somewhere in the Indian Ocean, 40-foot refrigerated containers are carrying freshly harvested Canadian Fraser Firs towards the UAE.

The farmers in Quebec have done their part, alongside the logistics teams who spent months mapping alternative routes, negotiating insurance surcharges and calculating whether the numbers justified pressing ahead.

But the same disruption reshaping global freight – due to continuing challenges in the Red Sea, complications around the Strait of Hormuz, extended transit times and higher insurance costs – has affected one of the UAE's most seasonal and niche imports.

The result is a Christmas tree supply chain stretched to its limits – delivering, but not without consequences for price, availability and planning. For some UAE importers, it wasn’t worth it. For others, the costs added up, but they committed.

Fresh Christmas trees are as vulnerable to supply chain shocks as they are perishable. They require refrigerated containers throughout their journey and each plant has a narrow window between harvest and the moment it should be standing in someone's living room.

This year, that window has been complicated enough to make some suppliers step back entirely.

Sadi Badar runs Al Rifaa Nursery and Zabeel Nursery, and typically brings between 600 and 750 trees to UAE markets each year through four companies. He has decided not to import any trees for 2026 at all.

“Prices are too high and suppliers are not taking responsibility [for whether the] shipment arrives on time or not,” Mr Badar told The National.

Others have rebuilt their logistics almost from scratch in order to ensure fresh trees this Christmas. This includes Spinneys, which sources its fresh trees from Copenhagen and last year routed them all the way around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea. “This won't be viable this year because of the sea freight delays we are experiencing,” said Warwick Gird, Spinneys' general manager of marketing and e-commerce.

Show caption: Companies have been forced to reroute deliveries because of …

This year, the solution involved splitting the shipment across two routes. “We are bringing half via road freight and the other half via sea freight from Copenhagen to Mersin in Turkey, and then road freighting them from Mersin to the UAE,” Mr Gird explained.

Part of that extra cost reaches shoppers. “This is costing us a bit more, but the customers will only see a small portion of that cost on the retail selling prices,” said Mr Gird. “The fresh trees are an important item for our business, and our customers look forward to them arriving every year, which is why we are absorbing the additional costs.”

Trees are due in stores around November 24.

Meanwhile, Christmas Trees UAE has been running the same journey – Canadian Fraser firs to UAE customers – for 17 years. The business sources from Quebec specifically because the cooler climate at harvest time gives the trees their best chance of surviving the voyage in good condition. This year has tested that model more than most.

“To navigate an exceptionally challenging global supply chain, our team spent months working closely with our farmers in Canada, maritime shipping agents and logistics providers,” said co-founder Simone Jucker.

“Because real trees require specialised refrigerated containers, maritime freight costs have surged significantly, compounded by steep insurance surcharges and rerouting fees across regional transit corridors, including the Strait of Hormuz.”

Show caption: Families await the Christmas tree lighting at Emirates Palac…

But the trees have been harvested, loaded and are now at sea. “We put our money where our mouth is and are committed to bringing the trees,” she said.

Rather than pass the full increase on to customers, Christmas Trees UAE and partner Oleander are absorbing much of it. “We refused to compromise on tree quality, freshness or delivery reliability. At the same time, we did not want to pass the full brunt of these global logistics spikes on to our community.”

Giving a firm arrival date is something Ms Jucker is not prepared to do until the ships get closer. “This is to manage expectations. However, we are saying that we expect to have trees around the third to fourth week of November.”

The effects of all this complexity are already reaching consumers. Natasha Hatherall-Shawe, a Dubai-based resident, couldn’t bear the uncertainty any more. “I gave in and bought a fake one,” she said. “For the first time in my life.”

For UAE residents holding out for a real tree this Christmas, the advice is to check the websites and watch for updates.