NO “TRUFFLING” SUCCESS AS TRUFFLEHUNTER CELEBRATES A DECADE OF DELIGHT

This unprepossessing fungi, related to the mushroom but growing under, not above ground is a culinary delicacy. Now one company set up by a former banker is successfully expanding its earthy appeal globally

By Nicky Godding Business & Innovation Magazine Editor-in-Chief

Saffron. Caviar. Oysters. Truffles. These are the world’s most expensive and desirable culinary ingredients.

Probably the least well understood in this list are truffles, even though they’ve been eaten for thousands of years. Surprising really, because they are difficult to cultivate and, as they resemble a small dirty clod of earth, don’t have much going for them visually either.

But thousands of years ago, thanks to their strong smell and flavour, they were considered to have healing properties, and were eaten by the rich to help stave off illness. As a result, their distinct flavour in meals became familiar and desirable.

Fast forward to the 21st century and little has changed. Fresh truffles have been the preserve of top chefs who would grate them over a dish or make their own truffle-infused condiments.

That was until one man saw the potential to broaden the appeal of this delicacy into a range of up-market products.

TruffleHunter, established by Nigel Whitehouse in 2007 near Cirencester, has grown into a £10 million plus turnover business.

The company, now employing more than 50 people, makes luxury products using imported truffles from Italy and other European regions, and sells them across the world.

So who is this truffle pioneer?

At age 40, Nigel was head of global fixed income operations for Deutsche Bank, and at risk of burning out. After a holiday to Indonesia, he gave the bank a year’s notice and left, wondering what to do.

Newly married, he and his wife Omi decided to have an adventure. They went to Italy and spent time in Le Marche, the truffleproducing region of central Italy.

Here was the perfect opportunity to build a new business from the ground up.

His original idea was to make olive oil, but with many other people doing it, there was little money to be made by an olive oil ingenu. So he planted vines and thought about producing wine. Ditto others doing that too.

Then he stumbled on truffles. “At the local markets there were loads of people selling them.

“My first thought was 200 euros for that? You’ve got to be joking.”

The local truffle business operated with little organisation. Nigel reckoned it could be done better, for the benefit of all concerned.

The first tru e website in the world

“I started buying fresh truffles from local hunters. I built an ecommerce website and while it was a bit amateur, it was also the first fresh truffle ecommerce site in the world.”

The Italian truffle market is made up of hundreds of small family businesses that have been doing it for generations. Experienced truffle hunters find and harvest the truffles, selling them to the local restaurants and wholesalers.

But there was no infrastructure, no supply chain and truffle hunters don’t hunt all year round. Nigel realised he’d stumbled on something with huge potential.

He began by approaching UK chefs. “They loved the quality and our service, but truffles are a rare commodity with a short shelf life, and I couldn’t make it commercially viable.”

He began to consider what else he could do with truffles.

“At the time, delis in the UK or USA would often have a dusty bottle of expensive truffle oil at the back of a shelf. While truffles were known to be a delicacy, few people knew what to do with them.

“I thought that if I could make truffle oil, sell it for £5 with a clear English branding on it, tell people what it is and how to use it, that would open up the market.”

Michelin-starred UK chef Michael Wignall agreed.

“Michael introduced us to Wellocks, a top tier food service distributor. When James Wellock visited us in Italy and bought our truffles, he also suggested we expand our product range.

Fast forward a few years and the business now makes luxury products using imported truffles from Italy and other European regions, and sells them across the world.

Alongside the glorious fresh truffles (Black Autumn Truffles can cost from £55 each), the company makes truffle oil and vinegar, crisps, cheese, butter, mustard, a range of different condiments, gift sets and a selection of preserved black truffle products – even truffle ketchup.

The truffle market is now estimated as being worth more than $100 million dollars a year.

But overnight success takes years to achieve (as someone famous once said).

Bringing food manufacture back to the UK

“We spent six months developing and branding a small range of products, and moved back to the UK, to South Cerney, and began making products such as truffle oil, truffle butter and even truffle honey.”

Most of TruffleHunter’s truffles come from Italy, although Nigel now buys from all over Europe and while he does still buy directly from truffle hunters, most are bought from wholesalers or the farms which cultivate them in quantity.

Ambitious Leaders

“We know the best seasons to buy them in Spain, Italy and other regions,” said Nigel.

There are hundreds of truffle varieties, each enjoying a short season. However, there are fewer than 10 varieties which have commercial value, of which TruffleHunter sells around five.

Truffles grow in the UK too, mostly in Wiltshire and Somerset.

Tru e knowledge spurs global growth

TruffleHunter has grown by increasing sales to a certain level before investing in growth.

“We started selling directly to delicatessens in the UK and did a lot of food shows where we could meet customers face-to-face and get feedback,” said Nigel.

“Early on we made a lot of our truffle products by hand, and when we could afford to, we invested in automation. And we still do that.”

But it was always clear that such a niche product needs a global presence.

“We listed on Amazon UK within the first year. And it’s been a big market for us. Then we listed on Amazon in the States and exhibited at some of the country’s major food shows. Since then, we’ve listed on around a dozen Amazon platforms around the world.”

The company now exports around two-thirds of its products and last year, TruffleHunter was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its exporting success.

To meet the demand it has expanded the South Cerney premises, installing a production line to make its white and black truffle crisps. In fact, the company makes all its products at South Cerney and while Nigel and Omi are currently based in Australia, where he is looking to expand TruffleHunter’s market, the company will continue to be based in Gloucestershire, because this business is truly global.

In the last four years, thanks to the curiosity around truffle and truffle flavours,

TruffleHunter has reported a 200 per cent growth in turnover.

While the USA is the company’s biggest export market, Nigel can see huge opportunities for growth across the Far East. “We struggled to make early progress in the Asian markets, so we set up an office in Hong Kong around three years ago and it’s finally working.

“A major reason for our success is that we are the truffle experts. We are staying focused and still have a big market to go after. We are in the truffle, not the fine food, business.”

And that’s no truffling success.