« Truffle » is the name given to a certain type of luxury mushroom that belongs to the tuber family of fungi. Truffles are mostly harvested in Southern Europe and China and can reach extremely high prices. Truffles are used sparingly, they can be consumed raw or shaved over warm and simple foods, inserted into meats, or used to give their particular flavor to butter or oil.

 

The main truffles that are consumed in the U.S are the following:

• the “Black truffle” or Tuber melanosporum
• the “Black summer truffle” or Tuber aestivum, 
• the “White truffle” or Tuber magnatum
• the “Oregon black truffle” also called eucangium carthusianu

 

This market report includes several types of businesses like suppliers of truffle tree seedlings and equipment, restaurants serving truffles, truffle orchards in California and European truffle exporters.

 

While truffles can be found in several States in the U.S such as Oregon, North Carolina, or Washington; the rich soil and mild climate that can be found in several counties in California is ideal for truffles and grapes.

 

Once inoculated with black truffle spores, newly planted trees begin producing truffles after 6 to 10 years. However, it takes a lot longer to get a return on investment and there are no guarantees of success.

 

While the California truffle industry is still in its nascent stage, orchards are flourishing across the state which holds a growing base of enthusiasts. The Napa truffle festival is hosted in California since 2010 and provides a platform to share knowledge among the growing number of farmers across the state.

 

In California, the main harvest comes from the French black Périgord truffles, also called “black diamond” even if some rare findings of Burgundy truffles (Tuber uncinatum) have been reported in Sonoma County.