Truffle market crashes

Now I realize that $30,000 for a single white truffle might seem like a lot, but it’s peanuts compared with last year's record bid of $330,000. As reported by the FT, business executives and celebrities packed into Tokyo's Ritz-Carlton over the weekend for the annual auction of Alba white truffles from Italy’s Piedmont region. The global economic slowdown has definitely taken its toll.

The investment bankers, Chinese magnates and other high-rollers who drove white-truffle prices sky-high in recent years were conspicuously absent on Sunday. The total raised by the three simultaneous auctions this year was euro 118,000 ($151,048) compared to about euro 417,952 ($535,000) last year. Even so, bidders in Moscow and elsewhere phoned in some offers, noted Ricco DeBlank, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo and chief truffle auctioneer.

[CUT]

Unlike commercial art auctions, however, all proceeds from the truffle sale go to charity including, this year, to international children’s and cancer charities. So while it may seem a little frivolous in crisis times, it was all for a good cause, noted Nick Wood, a Tokyo-based composer and music entrepreneur who successfully bid Y625,000 for a 196g truffle. ”If you can buy a white truffle, have fun with it, and help some poor kids with cancer at the same time, surely that’s the best – a triple whammy”.



More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent stories:
Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene
One last Florida photo
Signs of Saturday: No refund
'I Am Woman,' hear them roar
Bobcat crossing

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook