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In 1985 Ian Hall, a mycologist at the Invermay Agricultural Centre near Dunedin began research on the Périgord black truffle (Tuber melanosporum). He believed that it would be possible to establish truffle growing in New Zealand, with the aim of supplying out-of-season Northern Hemisphere markets. By 1987 Invermay had produced its first batch of Périgord black truffle infected plants and in the Spring of that year two truffières (truffle plantations) were established in North Otago. In 1988, truffières were planted in nine other areas of New Zealand, from North Canterbury to Gisborne. In July 1993 a few Périgord black truffles were found in Alan Hall’s Gisborne truffière 5 years after planting – the first in the Southern Hemisphere. Small numbers of black truffles continued to form in the 0.5 hectare truffière during the following few years as well as up to 100kg of an inferior truffle (Tuber maculatum). However, in March and April 1997, 8.5 years after planting, large numbers of immature Périgord black truffles began to form and by May mature truffles were being harvested. By mid June 1997, the 0.5ha truffière had produced 6kg of Périgord black truffles with one tree producing 1.75 kg. Some of the truffles were particularly large and weighed 750g or more.
Ian Hall’s team has significantly expanded their production of Perigord black truffle inoculated trees in recent years, and introduced two new species of truffle – the Burgundy truffle (T. uncinatum) and the bianchetto (T. borchii). Trial plantations of these species began in 2001.
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