Last summer 60 Minutes aired a story giving us an inside look on the truffle business. A truffle is a rare fungus that grows underground. Ounce for ounce, they are the most expensive food on the planet. France and Italy are well known for their high quality truffles. They are so highly valued that there is a black market for them. Truffles are stolen, trafficked like drugs, and there are even “fake” truffles. China produces truffles of inferior quality that are often sold at unjustified prices. These truffles can be mixed in with truffles from France and Italy, lowering the overall quality while increasing volume.

Urbani is an Italian based company that controls 70% of the world’s truffle trade. The truffles harvested go to the Urbani factory where they are washed and sorted and then either frozen or canned. A certain amount is flown fresh to upscale restaurants. Urbani currently has the problem of people adding Chinese truffles to their own truffles halfway through the supply chain. I think this can be fixed by improving operations management, tightening up the supply chain, and improving its security. The scarcity of truffles has driven prices high. Due to this shortage in supply there is little to no need for forecasting.

Photo source: http://urbani.com/catalog/product/gallery/id/54/image/989/