the truffle market | Italy

1.1 Definition and presentation

Truffle is the name given to particular species of mushrooms that are found in the ground and grow in symbiosis with roots of various plants. A single fungus can give life to different truffles. There are 4 main categories of truffles on the market:

• Tuber Magnatum Pico (or white truffle of Alba): The tuber magnatum Pico is certainly the most expensive truffle on the market, and it can only be found in Italy and certain regions of Croatia.
• Tuber Melanosporum Vittadini (or Tartufo Nero pregiato): This truffle is the most known truffle in the world, as it is also the most present in other countries other than Italy, such as France, Spain, Bulgaria, and Croatia.
• Tuber Uncinatum Chatin (or Tartufo Uncinato)
• Tuber Aestivum Vittadini (or Summer Truffle, Scorzone): The scorzone is the most collected and most present truffle in Italy.

Truffle harvesting in Italy was responsible for the origin of the first legislation concerning the collection of wild products on the national territory. Since then, the regulatory framework has undergone a series of changes in the hope of preserving the activity and limiting the black sale of the product, but to date the sector still lacks some main guidelines.

The truffle market is highly fragmented in Italy and consists of a multitude of small players who are truffle-hunters, "tartufaia" cultivators, manufacturing companies and distributors. The country continues to lead the rest of Europe in the production and export of truffles, boasting an ancient tradition of harvesting, thanks to the morphological conditions of the territory. Concerning the total national production, the Apennine areas in the center (Marche, Lazio, Umbria, Tuscany) represent 53%, followed by the South with 39% and the North with 8%. In the regional production, Umbria and Abruzzo are the more important producing regions, representing altogether the 53% of the Italian production. 

The demand for truffle is tightly linked to the restaurant, transformation and tourism industry and it is highly seasonal. As a matter of fact, the demand usually peaks in October-November, as it follows the truffle collection calendars. In addition, every year there are an increasing number of fairs and events organized around the truffle world, which leads to talk about a real tourism of truffle, attracting thousands of visitors.

The offer of truffle-based products has significantly expanded in recent years, as consumers can get a taste of truffle in a more convenient format and at a less prohibitive price. Furthemore, many truffle-based products manufacturers have decided to offer a biological line, which doesn't use any artificial or chimical element in the production process, to adapt to the changing customer demand.