Kontext

Spain is the main producer of black truffle worldwide, but the product is traditionally known in international markets as "Truffle of the Périgord". This is due to the fact that until recently, France has been the one who has marketed this product worldwide, so this image makes it difficult for our companies to introduce our truffle directly into the market and detracts from the added value of the product. Furthermore, we have to take into account the significant increase in production thanks to the entry into production of the new plantations, which can lead to a certain stress on the price of this product. These two factors indicate the need to visualise Spanish truffle production on the international market by means of a consensual proposal for certification or the creation of a brand to improve the competitiveness of our sector on the foreign market and, at the same time, to favour local trade.
In Spain we export around 90% of our total production and there is very little gastronomic culture in our country around the truffle. This is largely due to the lack of information transfer to the national consumer, from the production process and its commercialisation to the way it is consumed. It is therefore necessary to innovate in the way of reaching the consumer in all aspects of the value chain: how truffles are produced and in which territories, identifying tourist routes around the truffle, qualities, points of sale, conservation of the product once acquired, how to cook it at home and in which restaurants it can be tasted.

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Additional comments

There are no precedents of co-participative processes between the different agents of the truffle sector to address the challenges of the sector, such as those obtained from the European INCREDible project, with which the functioning scheme of the sector's value chain has been agreed upon and a precise diagnosis of the sector has been obtained. In this project we will tackle the most important challenges detected in our country in a co-participatory manner with the different agents involved in the chain, following a methodology of open innovation and a process of co-creation in the actions to be implemented.

Additional information

The truffle is considered a natural fruit, as it is a spontaneous production of the earth, and an industrial fruit, as it is produced for the benefit of the crop (articles 354 and 355); it is also a non-timber crop, and is therefore governed by the basic regulations contained in Law 43/2003, of 21 November, on Forestry, and in Decree 845/1962, of 22 February (Reyna, 2007).
As far as truffle harvesting is concerned, Decree 1688/72 of 15 June 1972, which regulates the search for and harvesting of the black winter truffle, implemented by the Order of 8 November 1972 of the Ministry of Agriculture, is applicable. This decree concerns the species Tuber melanosporum and Tuber brumale and establishes the harvesting calendar, the searching methods (only trained dogs may be used for this purpose) and the harvesting methods. In addition, some autonomous communities have developed their own specific regulations for the regulation of truffle harvesting. 
The commercialisation of truffles is governed by Royal Decree 30/2009, of 16 January, which establishes the sanitary conditions for the commercialisation of mushrooms for food use. This sets out the health conditions applicable to the production, processing and distribution of fresh mushrooms and preserved mushrooms for food use and establishes the basis for the direct supply of truffles by the producer. The list of wild species to be marketed in this standard includes six species of the Tuber genus (Tuber aestivum, Tuber borchii, Tuber brumale, Tuber indicum, Tuber magnatum and Tuber melanosporum).