Becoming a partner in our truffle farm in Ireland is straightforward, as the following steps demonstrate:
Step 1. Purchasing your Trees
As an investor, you purchase a specific amount of ready-to-be-planted young oak/hazel trees. We inoculate the root system of the baby oak/hazel saplings with the truffle fungus first in our laboratory. Once quality control tests confirm the symbiotic relationship between tree root and fungus is thriving, the young tree is ready to be planted in the orchard.
As part of the purchase process, you sign 2 contracts:
- A contract for the purchase of the trees.
- A renewable tree management contract that authorises your farm management partner to implement and manage your orchard on your behalf, including harvesting and selling the truffles.
Step 2. Implementation, Cultivation, and Administration
The one to two-year-old truffle trees are ready to join the orchard when they are in full dormancy, usually from Mid-November to March. A typical planting mix includes oak and hazel truffle trees.
The planting plan will allows sufficient room for the movement of light farm vehicles between the rows of trees, which is necessary to maintain the site.
Once the trees are planted, your farm management partner takes care of all essential site maintenance such as weed suppression, pruning (hazel only), clearing of tree guards, and the topping of grass rows is ongoing, and ... of course, the harvesting from year 3.
Step 3. Truffle Harvesting
The harvesting period for the black summer truffle continues from June to December, although this can be extended as late as January in mild winters. In Ireland, peak harvest is from September to October; during this period, the truffles are harvested on a 7 to 10-day rotation.
Harvesting takes one day for each hectare, working with trained dogs to find the truffles. Trained dogs are the only reliable method of harvesting truffles. In the past, farmers also used pigs. However, they could not stop the pigs from eating the truffles once they found them.
Step 4. Selling your Truffles
Once truffles are harvested, our agri-science partner can provide distribution. However, we will explore other options to achieve the highest price point.
Our truffle farm is 45 minutes from Shannon Airport, the transatlantic hub between the Americas and Europe. Produce can be delivered to any location in the world, including China, within 24 hours.
As an investor, you receive 70% of the net income after management fees.
Net Income = Gross Harvest Income - Farm Management Fees (10%)
You can find detailed projected yearly returns in our brochure.
