Truffle wars

by Nicole Weston, Posted Apr 5th 2006 @ 7:58AM

In China, many products are produced at prices much lower than they are in other countries, but until recently, agriculture was not subject to the same type of mass industrialization. Now, it appears that China is muscling in on the truffle market, something that the French are not too happy about. France has a 45% share of the truffle market and their fungi cost an average of more than $500 per pound. Two new Chinese varieties of truffles cost more than 90% less - $28 per pound. The director of Yunri foods, a Chinese company that sells the truffles, said that they sell over 20 tons of truffles and mushrooms a year, mostly to the United States, United Kingdom and France.

A representative from the French Federation of Truffle Growers said that there were marked differences in the quality of the truffles, despite the fact that they look almost identical to the pricier Perigord variety. "It's a problem of aroma and of quality consistency." Truffle aficionados, predictably, state that the French version is unquestionably superior, but the real question is whether the average consumer would find the French truffles to be 90% better than the much less expensive Chinese ones.

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Filed Under: Farming, Business, Lush Life, Newspapers, Ingredients
Tags: agriculture, asia, business, china, chinese, europe, farming, france, french, fungus, luxury, mushroom, mushrooms, perigord, truffle, truffles, vegetables

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-05-2006 @8:43AM allen said... 90% better would mean that the french ones would cost $53.20 ...

Try 1785% (or 18 times) better =)
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4-05-2006 @9:38AM kevin said... Truffles also grow in the US: http://www.oregonwhitetruffles.com/
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4-05-2006 @9:39AM Nicole Weston said... $28 per pound *is* less than 90% percent of the price of the french truffles - almost 95% less, actually. The "90% better" refers to the taste of the truffles, not the price.
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4-05-2006 @10:22AM Dmnkly said... Any online sources for the Chinese variety? I wouldn't mind giving them a spin.
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4-05-2006 @3:46PM extramsg said... People say the same thing about our Oregon truffles vs French and Italian truffles. (I usually am able to find ours around $7 an ounce fresh for either white or black, lower in volume.)

However, my experience is that it's not so much the truffle that is worse, but the people gathering the truffles. Truffles need to be "ripe". Around here, the truffle picking is still relatively young and you'll see these huge piles of truffles, many with no aroma whatsoever. Then you'll find a guy who knows what he's doing and he'll have a smaller selection, but they'll be great quality.

I've gotten jarred truffles from Europe and the fresh ones here are cheaper and better quality than those. But I've never gotten a fresh or frozen European truffle and can only compare to what I've had at top restaurants, which have been better. But then, top restaurants in the US are getting the very best quality, too, and have trained people for choosing such things. A big advantage over me going to the local farmers market.
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4-27-2006 @12:31AM k. ko said... I have tried the Chinese truffles, as well as the French and Italian ones. They were extremely poor in quality and tasted more like dirt. I do not recommend them, but they're becomming more common. I would like to try the Oregon ones, but so far Italian white truffles are my favorite.
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