Mistletoe and Cider - Interrelated Markets

Mistletoe and Cider - not one of Cliff’s lesser know Christmas songs, but the topic of an interesting news story that I will be using to teach interrelated markets.

So it would seem there is a connection between cider and mistletoe - beyond drinking too much of one before disgracing yourself under the other at Christmas parties.

This article in The Daily Mail suggests that the booming cider sales of recent years led to a big increase in demand for apples (derived demand) and the widespread replanting of apple trees. Now that we are reaping the bumper apple harvests we find that we have bumper harvests of mistletoe too…why? Because mistletoe is a parasitic plant that loves to grow on the soft bark of apple trees. You learn a new thing every day!

Definitely a prize for the student who can work that out as an example of joint supply.