Bidding for luxury

Sitting firmly at the peak of “foodie” indulgence, white truffles are seriously delicious. They are also seriously expensive. Now, with the launch of whitetruffleauction.com, truffle fans will be able to bid for freshly dug truffles and have them shipped direct to their home in most parts of the world

With over 20 years experience in the restaurant and food industry, husband and wife team Tony and Nadia Howell, are well placed to supply the best truffles available. Having run her own restaurant in London since 1986, Nadia took an interest in the supply side and has built up strong relations with truffle hunters in Italy. The duo currently work with three suppliers who source, harvest and dispatch the truffles direct from Italy.

“We have an incredibly well-routed network that ensures we maximise the freshness of the truffles by dispatching them speedily,” says Tony. Wrapped in special tissue paper and sealed in polystyrene containers, the truffles are dispatched as soon as the payment is received.

Each auction will run for 24 hours, as the lifetime of a truffle is limited—from the moment it is picked, a white winter truffle will last a maximum of 10 days. As soon as truffles are harvested, all pre-registered interested customers will be contacted by email or SMS and be able to bid for the item for the following 24 hours.

According to Tony, bidders this season are in for some serious treats. “Hunters have told me that because of the weather they have experienced this year, truffle harvest is expected to start earlier and they think they will find smaller volumes of the sought-after white truffle, but very large ones,” he says. Normally hunters expect to start harvesting around October, but this year they will be starting already in the third week of September.

When the white winter truffle is not in season—under Italian law all hunting of the “white diamond” must stop by 6 January to allow new ones to grow—the auction will be stocked with the black winter and summer truffles, depending on the season.

In addition to the auction, customers will also be able to buy related items from the online shop, including oils, creams and sauces.
Ten per cent of annual profits will be donated to the childrens’ charity Hope. The first Whitetruffleauction launches on 24 September.

For more information on Truffle Hunting see The truffle hunters