We are a Farming Partnership Company, bringing together knowledge from around the world for the commercial agricultural production of The Black Winter ‘Perigord’ Truffle, Tuber Melanosporum, in the Southern African region. Fresh Local Truffles are available from our Cape Town office in season from June to August. 

Our sapling production techniques are advanced and proven, using thorough and scientific methods currently employed internationally, to cultivate the Black Winter Truffle. To date, Woodford has established close to 100 hektars of Truffle orchards across South Africa. Some of these orchards are producing already and supplying Chefs, restaurants and private homes.

With solid relationships across the globe through the scientific community consulting for us, our thorough orchard monitoring will lead to successful truffle harvests.

If you are interested in becoming a grower and participating in a Truffle Joint Venture program please contact us.  Let us know where in South Africa your land is situated to enable us to ascertain its suitability for truffle growing and lets take it from there.


TRUFFLE CULTIVATION IN SOUTH AFRICA 

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FARMERS AND LANDOWNERS

FRESH TRUFFLE AVAILABLE IN SOUTH AFRICA - SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS


Woodford Truffles SA (Pty)Ld.

Our head office is based at  5 Bisschop Road, Hout Bay  Cape Town 7806  South Africa

Tel.   +27-21-7913953

cel.   +27-83-2251179

for orchard etstablishment e-mail     paul@miros.co.za   or   info@woodfordtruffles.co.za

for truffle sales email     kathi@miros.co.za

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News & Archives


Woodford visits the Lalbenque Truffle market in France

Woodford Truffles visits the Lalbenque Truffle Market in France. The enchanting atmosphere of the biggest truffle market in central France is where we were introduced to hunters, growers, suppliers and buyers. The next day the trip continued with an excursion to visit cultivated orchards, renovated orchards as well as highly productive orchards. 

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Cooking with frozen truffles

Chef Chrisophe De Hosse talks about cooking with frozen truffles. Preserving the flavour of truffles is one of the hardest things to do … fresh is obviously the best … but if you have to freeze your truffle to preserve it .. this is how to do it .. and how to cook with frozen truffle.

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Chef Giorgio Nava Cederberg Truffle hunt

Chef Giorgio Nava, Black Périgord truffles and a long table in the Cederberg. The raison d’être? A coming together in the name of great food and wine for the penultimate truffle hunt of the season. 


Read the full Daily Maverick article Here

or copy this link to your browser

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-09-18-sniffing-out-a-truffle-hunt-in-the-cederberg/



CNN - program on Truffle industry in SA

CNN programe - How truffles farmers are burgeoning their industry in South Africa

With a growing worldwide demand for truffles, South African truffles farmers are looking to establish their brand on the global market. CNN's Eleni Giokos explores these diamonds of the agricultural world and the lucrative opportunities they present for the future.

link to CNN video here

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/09/21/marketplace-south-africa-truffles-farmers-industry-spc.cnn


Fresh Produce - where to get local truffles in SA - Unilever

Unilever's ‘FreshProduce’ looks at localy available produce. Woodford Truffles supplies local truffles to the SA market

copy the link below to your browser if the video above does not play.

https://www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.za/chef-inspiration/all-themes/resturants/fresh-produce.html


Woodford showcases SA truffle orchard establishment in Cahores (France)

By 2016, a total of 60 Hectars of orchards have been established by Woodford Truffles SA, containing Tuber melanosporum, the Black Diamond of Truffles. In October of 2016, Woodford Truffles was asked to showcase its etablishment of Commercially Productive Truffle orchards in South Africa. The information was presented in Cahores France, by Proffesor Allesandra Zambonelli and Dr Ian Hall who are both at the forefront in advancing truffle research worldwide.

Truffles in the Outeniqua


SOUTH AFRICA’S TRUFFLE ORCHARD HOT SPOT - KOUWDOW

Kouwdouw signage

Volker Miros and Professor Alessandra Zambonelli excited to be visiting what Woodford Truffles considers to be a prime South African Balck Perigord Truffle growing hot spot. 

Volker Miros; "We have a lot of hope for this area to become a Truffle hot spot for farmers in the region. Of course, the more farmers in the area that are growing truffles, the better it is for all. We already have 20 Ha planted and another 12 Ha in the pipeline in this area alone"

Woodford Truffle Team at the Rosa Blú Café in Kouwdouw

Next stop on our Truffle Inspection Tour 2015 was a visit to the farm owned by Ansius Lategan and family.

As Professor Zambonelli had brought with her several of the freshest Black Perigord Truffles from Bologna for our inoculation purposes, we happily packed away a couple of the primest truffles for a truffle tasting with local friends and farmers.

And what better local restaurant than La Rosa Blú Cafê on the Rosenhof Rose-farm to treat the success of their truffle venture?

chef2

Our truffle tasting menu was skilfully executed and beautifully presented by Chef Peter-John Snyman. We started with Chef Snyman's creamiest of eggs made special with generous shavings of black truffles. Only the glorious steamed Kabeljou on mash with creamy truffle dressing could have topped that. And it did!

kabeljou with truffle sauce

Our partners Lategan and de Kock are taking delivery of their first inoculated truffle trees in September.

We look forward to many more of our inspection tours to this area. Partner de Kock says that truffle farming can do for the Southern Cape what vineyards have done for the winelands of the Western Cape:

presentation kouwdouw

Riaan Van Zyl talking about orchard setup

"Truffle tourism is huge and truffle products like truffle butter are extremely popular. Chefs are also keen to use it in their dishes and, although we will concentrate on the export market as our seasons differ from that of Europe, we hope to be able to provide the local market with truffles at affordable prices"


Truffles discovered in Southern Africa

South Africa’s first black diamond truffle discovered

Discovery on plantation ends farmer’s nine-year quest to cultivate one of the most expensive delicacies in the world

Farmer Cameron Anderson was about to give up for another season but decided to go out to the orchard for one last look. Beside an oak tree his dog, Shammy, a nine-year-old weimaraner, sniffed pointedly at something so Anderson dug it up. There in his hands was tuber melanosporum, or what experts are describing as the first South African Tuber Melanosporum

For Anderson it was the end of a nine-year quest to cultivate one of the most coveted and expensive delecacies in the world.

“I was elated,” he recalled on Tuesday. “The future of the project was hanging by a thread at that point. It’s not assured yet but this motivates you to push a hell of a lot harder.”

Wild truffles have previously been identified in South Africa but the race for commercial production began about a decade ago. The discovery of a black truffle on Anderson’s plantation of 500 oak trees near Dullstroom in Mpumalanga province has ended the nervous wait and sparked excitement among farmers hoping to turn the fungal equivalent of caviar into an industry worth millions.

Anderson, 34, first got the idea during a trip to New Zealand and decided to investigate when he got home. The effort required much patience and, even after Shammy’s find – “I trained her myself with artificial truffle oil and wasn’t sure if it would transfer to the real deal,” – he had to wait a few more months for scientific tests to prove it was the genuine article.

The historic truffle is not destined for posterity in a museum. Anderson ate a chunk after asking the head chef of the five star Michelangelo hotel in Johannesburg to cook it. He damaged another part because he was unsure how to store it.

“It was negligence on my part and I freely admit it. But the important thing is it’s proved the theory that it’s commercially viable. It’s still very early days but I’ve got high hopes it will go somewhere. I’d like to believe we are going to see more.”

The black truffle was put under a microscope and DNA tested by agricultural scientist Neil van Rij, who then sent it to Italy for a second opinion that also found it authentic. He has a sample in his freezer.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Van Rij, 41, who has been inoculating truffle fungi on to the roots of oak trees for years.

“I’ve been telling people that it would grow in South Africa but a lot are not willing to invest money on a venture that has not been proven. Now we know it’s actually possible and there will always be a market for them.”

The discovery has been welcomed by the fledgling industry. Volker Miros, 74, founder of Woodford Truffles SA, said that while wild truffles had recently been found on the chalk downs of the southern Cape, Anderson’s truffle should be recognised as South Africa’s first.

Miros, who works with farmers and landowners across 50 hectares for commercial production of black truffles, added: “It’s absolutely fantastic. We’ve been working for about five years now. I’ve got 150 people who are forever asking: ‘Are they going to grow?’ They want to know, are we going to invest in truffle orchard?”

The fungus, which has a symbiotic relationship with trees, holds a special place in the public imagination as well as haute cuisine, he continued. “It’s the mystique. It’s an amazing taste and you would always like to taste it again. It’s the elusiveness. It’s special. I think it’s the most expensive agricultural product in the world.”

Last month a white truffle from Italy, said to be the biggest in the world, sold to a Taiwanese buyer for $61,250 (£40,363) at auction in New York. White truffles are found in certain parts of Italy from October to December. South Africa is focusing on black truffles, the second most valuable species.

Leon Potgieter, mycologist and co-owner of African Truffles, said he believes South Africa’s soils are more suitable than those of Europe and its climate, with a combination of sun and frosts, is also ideal. Asked if he was confident a new industry would flourish, he replied: “Yes, of course it’s going to happen. In 10 years you will see chefs from all over the world coming here for the truffles.”

Potgieter, 37, believes others may have already succeeded in growing them but are reluctant to come forward. “We don’t encourage our farmers to go out and exhibit because this is a third-world country and as soon as you can say this is valuable like gold, you’re going to get people coming to rob your orchards.

“We’ve had some people robbing our orchards already. I think some discretion and modesty is called for.”


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/13/south-africa-first-black-diamond-truffle-discovered



Truffle success story

Truffle Farmers orchard shows good mycorrhizal innoculation.

Ultra close-ups of root samples of our trees and the Melanosporum mycorrhizae were confirmed by Professor Alessandra Zambonelli of Bologna University. With good mycorrihzae developing on the tree-roots, truffles are usually not far behind.

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                            Melanosporum Mycorrhizal infection

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