Realising it would take a book to make my point, instead here’s a calculator.
If you don’t agree with my default numbers, {ALTER} them.
Our conclusion, we need enough customers that order truffles directly, at a decent price, with delivery by post or courier. It’s not possible to visit everyone, every week.
Calculator may only work on desktops. The default calculation shows that;
with a full time workload at $20/hour to achieve a minimum wage of $40,000 per year with a six week harvest season.
requires 34 sales of 100 grams, per week, at $2/gram, difficult to reach so many venues without them ordering, and unwilling to pay that much (until they see the quality) Lower prices, needs even more sales or <minimum wage.
or 9kg per week to a wholesaler at $750/kilogram, 54kg will not be achieved without full time work.
Are my numbers right?
An unsolicited offer to Eastern State growers by The Truffle & Wine Co, in conjunction with Friend & Burrell has a similar calculations.
Letter to East Coast Growers 25th May 2016.pdf
Note: Even if everything was their top grade, Extra Class only, the price for the grower in there is $0.92/gram.
Also read these, sent to growers,
Truffle Business Newsletter Issue 01 Jan 2017.pdf
Truffle Business Newsletter Issue 02 Mar 2017.pdf
Truffle Business Newsletter Issue 03 Jun 2017.pdf
Published figures from WA’s fourth largest producer, brought to light they needed to make $2.37/gram in 2016 to break even. They instead posted losses of $798,000 They are just starting serious production, but they’d already be breaking even with the original pricing from when they planted.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-15/truffle-farm-hazel-hill-makes-bid-for-manjimup-rival/8025732
Why is the price so low?
Who knows, “It’s the market” is an excuse, not an answer.
Most restaurants will only use 1-2grams per dish. Even at $3/g that’s $6, for a special item which has different price structure to their regular dishes. The $5 worth of pasta, sold for $25, becomes $31 (probably now priced $45)
At 50cents/gram They are not buying more, you just need 6 times the venues buying
Price dumping by large growers to capture market, and destroy everyone else. This is a more likely explanation.
An example of price dumping by a Singaporean distributor, believed to be selling for Manjimup Truffles. This was followed by Extra Class for 75cents/gram the following week. (A client has invoice receipt for this.)
Singapore Pricing.jpg
There are numerous others, which may be added to this post, if copies of supporting documentation are obtained. {an ex Tasmanian tree producer is selling $1/g top grade truffle in Sydney.}