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Another truffle season in southern Western Australia has peaked, with producers saying demand for the lucrative fungus from international buyers is continuing to grow.
Key points:
- Truffle harvest has hit its peak in southern WA
- Producers are recording large quantities and "outstanding" quality
- Demand for the WA-grown product is soaring in Europe, Asia and the US
In the small timber town of Manjimup, 300 kilometres south of Perth, Al Blakers has been shipping his truffles to restaurants, chefs and suppliers as far as France, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Canada, the US and South Africa.
The retail prices for the fungi can range from $2,500 to $3,000, and are sought after by high-end restaurants worldwide.
As well as harvesting his black truffles, Mr Blakers Manjimup Truffles distributes product for other truffieres across the region.
"We've had a very good season so far ... quality has just been outstanding," he said.
"Everybody's having pretty bumper crops, and while we're exceeding what I was expecting, the good thing is we've found other markets to move it into and we haven't had a problem shipping it all.
"Demand is just off the charts overseas. It has been since the start of the season."
Strong sales and a strong aroma
Down the road at Stonebarn Truffiere, owner Dion Range has also been experiencing a successful harvest.
"It's looking very good so far … I have no doubt that we'll be comfortably up on last year's figures," he said.
"People are loving the aroma, and the quality is probably better than we've ever seen, despite a large amount of rain we've had this season so far."
Mr Range agrees that demand for Manjimup truffles is extremely high.
"The demand is probably stronger than it's been," he said.
"We've taken on a few more customers that we wholesale truffles to overseas and I can only see the demand increasing.
"More people are learning about truffles and more people are buying truffles, which supports the price, so there's no price pressure."
Ideal growing conditions
Mr Range calls Manjimup a "hidden bit of heaven" and said the conditions in the region are perfect for black truffle production.
"The microclimates, the soil types, the temperature ranges, and the rainfall time and quantity here really suit the black Perigord truffle very well," he said.
"Nobody knew when the first truffle trees were planted in the area whether it would work, but it's turned out to be very successful here.
"The averages in terms of mature truffle production in the Manjimup Shire are substantially higher per number of trees than the French and the Spanish Truffle.
"We are onto something and we're very lucky."
European truffles struggle
Mr Blakers believes demand for truffles from his part of the world stems from the quality and also recent tough seasons for the French-grown product.
"I think our big boost this year is that they had such a bad season in France last year with the drought and because they don't irrigate like we do," he said.
"I'd say they're in big trouble again with the temperatures they are copping now."
The unpredictable nature of harvesting a product like truffle does make things difficult for producers to plan ahead.
"Are we going to finish early? Are we're going to see another rush period? You just don't know because you've never seen it before," Mr Blakers said.
"But the quantity this season has been quite unbelievable.
"Even though we've put in a lot of hours, I have quite enjoyed it so far."
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