Chart of the week: bumper harvest hits truffle prices

Heavy rains in the Tanaro river basin in Piedmont, northwest Italy, have led to a bumper harvest of Alba white truffles this year, according to Bloomberg. Alba truffles are the most highly sought-after of all truffles and are considered the "diamond of the culinary world".

The harvesting season usually runs from November to January, but the rainfall has meant an early start, with the first crop hitting the shelves as early as September. Prices are down by 30% on last year, with €100 buying 72 grammes of the much-prized fungus, compared with 52 grammes in 2015, as the chart on the right shows.

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