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Summary of our market study
Annual consumption in France is around eighty tonnes of truffles.
The global truffle market, estimated at around $300 million in 2022, is expected to grow at an average annual rate of close to 9% over the next few years.
France, along with Spain and Italy, accounts for almost 90% of world production.
France imported $73.56 million worth of truffles in 2022, mainly from Spain, the Netherlands and Poland.
Around 50 tonnes of preserved truffles are produced in France, with sales of 20 million euros.
The harvesting of truffles remains artisanal, often involving trained dogs and pigs, and is essential to the luxury character of truffles.
Spain has established itself as one of the leading producers, but like France, is facing production declines due to climate change.
Regulations guarantee the labeling of truffles, with a minimum of 1% truffles for products to use the term "truffle".
Trends in demand for truffles in France
In France, the truffle market embodies luxury, with a product deeply rooted in culinary tradition. Demand shows remarkable stability and an unwavering upward trajectory. This demand persists despite the fact that production levels have dropped significantly since the beginning of the 20th century, from over a thousand tonnes a year to less than fifty tonnes.
In today's France, demand is ten times greater than supply. It is estimated that France consumes around eighty tonnes of truffles a year, a large proportion of which have to be imported.
The appeal of truffles reaches its peak during the festive season.
Prices vary considerably, from around 75 euros to thousands of euros per kilogram.
Some players in the sector
Truffle producers
- Plantin, founded in 1930, Europe's fourth-largest truffle producer.
- Maison Pebeyre, founded in 1897.
- Truffe Extra France is a smaller but significant player q
- La Maison Baumont artisanal know-how
Truffle distributors
- Signorini Tartufi store chains
- Comtesse du Barry, originally known as a manufacturer of foie gras, has extended its gastronomic offering to include truffle-based products
Specialized restaurateurs
- La Maison de la Truffe.
- Artisan de la Truffe, an Arcady's subsidiary within the Bertrand Group
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Presentation and definition of the truffle market
According to AgriTruffe, a truffle is the name given to something created by an ascomycete ectomycorrhizal fungus with a globular shape . A single fungus can give rise to several truffles, and truffle harvests are largely dependent on weather conditions such as drought.
There are two main categories of truffle on the market:
- The black or Périgord truffle , which can be found in limestone soils under truffle trees 1 to 15cm deep.
- The white truffle, the most prized and expensive variety on the market, can be found mainly in Italy and Croatia.
The French market is facing thecontinuing internationalization of truffleproduction at a time when domestic production is becoming increasingly scarce. Production has been exported to the USA, Australia, Israel, Argentina... All these emerging markets benefit from the seasonal nature of European harvests. Their products are sold for export between two harvest periods in Europe.
The main production regions in France are the south-west, the centre-west and above all the south-east, which accounts for 70% of productionin 3 regions: Drôme, Vaucluse and Alpes de Haute-Provence.
In 2022, France imported the equivalent in value of US$73.56 million worth of truffles and mushrooms, mainly from Spain, the Netherlands and Poland (nearly 85% of total French imports).
The truffle market is made up of a multitude of small players who are breeders, harvesters and distributors of their products. Truffle sales in France are organized around a large number of markets located in different communes, with varying degrees of recognition for the quality of the products on offer. A number of players are mobilizing to continue modernizing the sector, and are seeking support from the public authorities.
1.2 A global market still dominated by Europe
Worldwide, the truffle market is estimated at around $*** million in ****, with $***.* million according to The Insights Partners, and $*** million according to Fact.MR. Over the next few years, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR close to *%: The Insight Partners estimates a CAGR of *% between **** and ****, and Fact.MR ...
1.3 The French market, an increasingly contested world leader
According to FranceAgriMer, ** tons of preserved truffles were produced in **** by some twenty truffle canners, representing total sales of ** million euros.
We now rely on Prodcom data supplied by Eurostat, using the code [***] which corresponds to the following description: "Dried mushrooms and truffles, whole, cut, sliced, broken or in powder, but ...
1.4 Foreign trade in truffles
Truffles and mushrooms
The data below are obtained from code [***], which includes mushrooms and truffles. It is therefore larger than our market, but gives an idea of trends in the truffle market.
The trade balance for truffles and mushrooms in France, from **** to ****, reveals a downward trend in imports, from **.** million ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 A seasonal luxury product
This is a luxury micro-market in which margins are maintained by demand driven by top restaurateurs wishing to work with the product, or by wealthy French and foreigners associating this product with culinary luxury.
Demand for truffles is also subject to significant seasonal variations, with demand generally peaking during the festive ...
2.2 Stable demand
Demand for truffles has continued to rise since ****, according to France AgriMer.
Since the beginning of the **th century, a collapse in truffle production could have led to the disappearance of the industry. In fact, production has fallen from over *,*** tonnes a year to less than ** tonnes, mainly due to the ...
2.3 Consumer preference for Made In France and local products
Although they are up against Spanish truffles, which are heavily imported into France, French truffles have a strong national and international selling point: Made in France. Positioned in a luxury segment where quality and reputation tend to take precedence over all other characteristics, French truffles have the advantage of appearing as ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Many small producers and a few powerful independents
According to France AgriMer, ** to ** tonnes of truffles are produced annually in France. There are three main production regions in France:
Center and South-West: Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Centre Val-de-Loire South-East : Occitanie, PACA and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Centre-Est : Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Grand Est.
According to Planetoscope, the majority of production takes place in the South-East, particularly ...
3.2 A multitude of local markets alongside a few franchises and a nascent online business
According to the French Truffle Federationin ****:
**% of production is sold on wholesale markets **% on retail markets in nearly *** markets, **% to **% directly (***)
Truffles are marketed in France mainly by small local players present in the markets as follows Terre des Truffesmajor truffle towns: the Carpentras market, in the Périgord region, ...
3.3 Truffle harvesting
The high price of truffles is due not only to their rarity, but also to the way they are harvested: even today, truffles are harvested by hand, often with the help of truffle dogs and pigs, trained to find truffles buried underground.
Pigs have long been used because of their natural ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 The main truffle categories
There are many types and species of truffles, the main ones are listed on the Artisan de la truffe Paris website:
4.2 Price volatility
The price of a truffle on the market depends on its size, quality and species. The price range can vary from €** to several thousand euros, making it a luxurious product.
Source: ****
fluctuate according to market rates, which are governed by supply and demand
harvests become rarer
For example, among fresh Alba ...
4.3 The success of Spanish truffles
Truffle cultivation in France is under increasing attack from stiff competition from Spain. For the past six years, that neighbor's production has outstripped that of France, which at best harvests only half of what it consumes, according to the Fédération Française des Truficulteurs. Spain's very recent truffle production ...
4.4 Towards French production of Italian white truffles?
While black truffles now account for **% of French production, an innovation has opened up the possibility of developing the Tuber magnatum Pico sector, also known as the Piedmont or Italian white truffle. In fact, a *-year collaboration between scientists at INRAE (***) and Robin Nurseries has resulted in the first plantations enabling ...
5 Regulations
5.1 A sector supervised and supported by the public authorities
In ****, a decree on the marketing and quality control of truffles was issued: since then, quality requirements linked to the fresh state of the truffles produced, as well as labeling for marketing, are the most important regulatory conditions concerning quality control. Labelling must indicate the name of the species, the country ...
5.2 Truffles fall victim to their own success: truffle products without truffles
French regulations stipulate that French products bearing the name "truffle" must contain more than *% truffle. What's more, the labels of truffle products must also indicate the type of truffle used (***) because prices vary according to the type of truffle used, consumers must have access to clear information.
Yet in December ****, the ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- La Maison Pebeyre
- Maison Baumont
- Truffe Extra France
- Artisan de la Truffe (Bertrand Groupe)
- Truffe France
- Plantin
- Signorini Tartufi
- Comtesse du Barry
- Domaine du Grand Merlhiot
- Ferme de Pourcier
- Alena Truffe
- Le Soleil de Carpentras
List of charts presented in this market study
- Global truffle market size projections
- Estimated distribution of world black truffle production
- Distribution of world truffle production
- Trend in truffle harvests
- Value of truffle and dried mushroom production
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Latest news
Plantin aims to revive French truffle production - 18/01/2024
- Plantin's sales have risen from 18 to 38 million euros in three years.
- 50% of the company's sales are generated abroad.
- The company employs 100 people.
- Plantin collects around 100 tonnes of truffles a year.
- Plantin obtains its supplies directly from 300 professional truffle growers.
- Plantin absorbs a good third of the French truffle production available through official channels.
- Nicolas Rouhier, the company's director, says they need at least 50 more truffle growers to guarantee their supplies.
- In 2017, the company invested in planting 50 hectares of land in Spain.
- The land invested in Spain supplied one tonne of truffles last year and is expected to produce three times as much when mature.
- They have converted nine hectares of land in the Vaucluse region for truffle production
- The investment required to grow truffles is around 15,000 euros per hectare.
- Each hectare can yield around 40 kilos of truffles ten years later, negotiable at between 400 and 600 euros per kilo.
Truffles: Plantin opens up to the general public - 21/02/2023
- Between November and March, truffle growers flock to the plant in Puyméras, near Vaison-la-Romaine.
- Plantin collects up to 100 tonnes of the precious tuber a year in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France's leading producer, but also in other regions (Charente, Drôme, Périgord) and elsewhere in the world, as far afield as Australia and Chile
- A truffle champion since 1930, this Vaucluse-based breeder and merchant is aiming to increase its sales from €18 million to €27 million by 2022
- 55 employees, 400 restaurant customers
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