ITALY – Sticker shock may have gastronomes looking for less pricey fungi this season, as an unseasonably hot summer and dry fall have squashed white truffle supplies and sent prices soaring to over $3,000 a pound.
A Bloomberg report notes that the already-expensive aromatic mushrooms have more than doubled in price as of late due to a “dramatically smaller harvest this season.” And The Telegraph reports that, after “the driest autumn in decades,” supply could be reduced by as much as 90 percent.
While prices on preserved products made with truffles will reportedly not see serious fluctuation, because supply of frozen truffles is relatively stable, fresh truffle prices have skyrocketed.
“Let’s say it is a big problem,” Fortunato Nicotra, Executive Chef at New York restaurant Felidia told Bloomberg. “I cannot double my prices. But I cannot be without truffles.”
Nicotra told the news source that he is currently paying up to $3,200 for golf-ball size truffles, and larger-sized truffles could fetch several hundred dollars more. The chef also noted that truffles typically have a narrow profit margin, and the price crunch could easily make offering truffles prohibitively expensive for restaurants.
“You don’t make money with truffles—you are providing a service," Michael White, Chef and Owner of the Altamarea Group, told Bloomberg—noting that because of razor-thin margins, only three of his staffers are permitted to slice truffles. “There’s no room for error—this year, especially.”
Will a truffle crunch bring fine dining to its knees? AndNowUKnow will keep you up to date on produce—pricey and otherwise.
