'Tis a reason to be jolly! Poland is world’s third biggest producer of Christmas tree decorations
Poland is one of the world’s biggest exporters of Christmas decorations, with prestigious customers including the UK’s prestigious Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, Le Bon Marché in Paris and Bloomingdales in the USA.
Data from the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) shows that in 2019, the value of Polish exports of Christmas goods reached EUR 80.4 million, two and a half times more than in 2015.
Bombkarnia in Warsaw has made baubles for Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Patriach of Moscow Cyril I and the European Parliament’s Christmas tree at the end of Poland’s Presidency of the EU in 2011.
PIE said: "This puts Poland in third place in the world. Only China exported more (the world leader in sales with a market share of over 80 percent) and Germany.”
The report also shows that in 2019, Polish Christmas baubles were delivered to 71 countries on all continents, with almost half of them going to Germany, and 18 percent to the United States.
The exclusive and intricate Polish decorations sometimes even include baubles encrusted with Swarovski crystals, amber stones and other gemstones.
The decorations, which are hand blown from glass and then hand-painted, are produced by several traditional manufacturers and sold in the world’s most exclusive department stores, such as London’s Harrods.
Jakub Grubiński, president of GabiGlass in Gniezno, who have been making baubles for export for 8 years, said: “The English love shaped baubles. It is for them that we create baubles in different forms like cars, Santa clauses and Christmas trees.”
The decorations, which are hand blown from glass and then hand-painted, are produced by several traditional manufacturers.
Americans also favour shaped baubles. Maciej Mostowski, the third generation of a family factory which first started producing baubles in 1945 and have produced baubles for the Kremlin Museum, American sports teams, Spanish royals and the White House said: “American’s are more colourful and can easily have something like Santa Claus on a surfing board.”
A more unusual American tradition are baubles in the shape of cucumbers, with Polish company Vitbis sending one hundred cucumber shaped baubles to America each year.
The largest Christmas tree decoration producer in Poland is Vitbis, located in Złotoryja in Lower Silesia. The company, set up in 1952, has the largest bauble factory in Europe which produces around 100, 000 baubles a day.
President of Vitbis Janusz Prus said: “Americans believe in their amazing power. When hung on a tree they are meant to guarantee material success, luck and wealth.”
Although China is the world’s market leader in the quantity of baubles produced today, these are produced on a mass scale and usually from plastic.
Poland has made a name for itself for the quality and craft of its glass baubles and has an established presence in the world’s production of glass ornaments which has been going for decades.
Poland, however, has made a name for itself for the quality and craft of its glass baubles and has an established presence in the world’s production of glass ornaments which has been going for decades.
Another Polish manufacturer, ‘Bombkarnia’ in Warsaw, has made baubles as diplomatic presents for Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Patriach of Moscow Cyril I and the European Parliament’s Christmas tree at the end of Poland’s Presidency of the EU in 2011.
The report from PIE shows that in 2019, Polish Christmas baubles were delivered to 71 countries on all continents, with almost half of them going to Germany, and 18 percent to the United States.
GabiGlass president Jakub Grubiński said: “Poles are well known in Great Britain as producers of baubles.
“Polish Christmas tree decorations are very sought after over there. When they receive the news that the products are from Poland, the interest is immediately enormous.”
