Twente airport will be the epicentre of Christmas tree trade in Europe for the weeks leading up to Christmas. The former airport hangar provides the perfect location for Green Team to distribute the trees we all know and love.
Green Team is a Danish company co-owned by a resident of Enschede, Frank Bos. It is the biggest distributor of Christmas trees in the Netherlands, with clients such as the Albert Heijn, Gamma and various garden centres.
The company has grown significantly due to the increasing demand from large chain stores. The size of Green Team is unique in Europe and the rest of the world, with 70 people working all year long towards the Christmas period.
The trees to be distributed are mainly grown in nurseries in Denmark, Scotland and Poland and will find new homes in, amongst other countries, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and Slovenia. In total, Green Team exports trees to 28 countries.
In Europe, Green Team will sell over 2,5 million fir trees, more than 500.000 of which will end up in living rooms in the Netherlands, having passed through Twente airport. Yours may very well have come from there too.
Around 90 percent of the trees being loaded and unloaded are Nordmann fir trees. When it comes to Christmas trees, this type of tree is the most popular in Europe, as the needles are not too sharp and do not fall out readily as it dries out.
In order to distribute the huge number of trees, 50 to 100 lorries have already begun loading and unloading Christmas trees daily in Lonneker. This will continue up until a week before Christmas.
Currently, in excess of 100.000 trees are ready and waiting to be transported from the airport hangar to shops, and ultimately to Dutch homes.