How I Learned The Value Of Truffles And Why I’m Investing

One sunny summer afternoon in 2012 I had the most expensive lunch of my life.

Kathleen, the kids, and I were taking a driving tour through Italy, Austria, and Croatia. The Croatia leg was to check on the old stone house we own in Istria. We arrived in the nearest town, Livade, around lunchtime.

Livade is a tiny place with a big claim to fame: this is the center of Croatia’s truffle region. Walking through the lobby of the town’s only restaurant we saw, in a glass case, an enormous bronze truffle—the world’s biggest, according to Guinness (or so the sign attached indicated).

Reviewing the menu, we saw that every item on it featured truffles…

Truffle soup, truffle pasta, truffle sauce on the pork chops…

We observed truffle shavings garnishing every plate that came out from the kitchen, and, after we’d been served, the waiter came around the table to ask us each if we’d like more truffle grated onto our meal for good measure.

The food was excellent, but the bill for the four of us was 350 euros… just for food.

I’ve had more expensive dinners out, sure, but those were in fancy city restaurants with wine and cocktails.

I knew of truffles before that lunch and understood that they are expensive, but I didn’t realize just how expensive…

Truffles have always been a high-priced delicacy, but the supply and demand curve has made them into one of the world’s most valuable agricultural crops…

A single truffle was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York in 2014 for US$61,250… it weighed only 4 pounds.

Today, these “diamonds” of the culinary world are so in demand that cautious restauranteurs store them in safes.

How Did Truffles Become So Valuable?

Truffles are more popular today than ever before in history. In recent years, they’ve entered the mainstream food market rather than the usual high-end restaurant scene.

In 2019 the world produced about 60 tons of truffles.

Yet, more than 100 years ago, thousands of tons of truffles were collected on an annual basis… so what happened?

World War I destroyed the plantations, while nearly all of the farmers and their expertise were lost as war raged on across the continent.

Couple that with changes in climate and land development, and it’s taken decades to get to today’s numbers of around 60 tons a year.

To say that there’s an awful lot of room for growth is a massive understatement.

As I mentioned before, demand currently outstrips supply by a factor of 10… and the going price of truffles has increased about 4% to 5% a year.

Analysts have been monitoring the market and project it to grow by US$122 million by 2024.

Truffle Opportunity In Spain Pays Out US$752K Over 30 Years…

A truffle is a fungus that grows underground. Leaving them to develop without help in new plantations would add many years to the growth cycle.

This outstanding demand is why I was excited to discover a truffle plantation that is backed by serious science.

The specific science involved isn’t available to just anyone wanting to start a truffle plantation. These developers have worked with a dedicated lab for years to refine it, and they keep it private and well protected.

Profit By Owning Truffle Trees—For As Little As US$66,106..

The team I’m working with has put together a 100% turn-key truffle investment deal.

For US$66,106, you get 100 high-quality black Périgord truffle-producing trees, in a managed plantation.

Everything is managed for you, turn-key…

The science, the planting, the harvesting, and the distribution and sales.

The developer behind the plan is keeping ownership of 90% of the trees he plants. He is fully invested in the project’s success.

The projected IRR for this investment over 30 years is 16%.

Cash flow starts in year 3, thanks to the science involved, which helps the truffles produce more quickly than they would otherwise. The annual payouts increase every year thereafter, reaching as much as US$34k by year 15.

Your total pay-out over 30 years adds up to US$752,414… representing a 1,038% return on investment.

Truffle demand is only growing… and we have just seen how well the truffle market preforms in times of crisis, with prices reaching record highs…

Here’s a snapshot of some pricing Graeme, my contact on the farm, recently sent me:

Right now, the retail price for truffles is twice the value used to project those US$752,414 profits. Ours will be sold wholesale, but it means the projections are rock solid—if not overly conservative.

Consider this 16% IRR compared to the stock market… since 1965, the S&P 500 has delivered annualized returns averaging 9.7% (including dividends).

When I had to decide between a big purchase on a bloated Wall Street versus this truffle farm, it was an easy choice…

I bought an investment here myself a few years ago, and I’m thinking of investing again for a second time.

Find out more here.

Lief Simon
Editor, Global Property Advisor