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Winter in New Zealand doesn’t just mean gumboots, soup and shorter days anymore. It also means the return of one of the country’s most quietly luxurious food sectors - black truffles. North Canterbury producer Kings Truffles has confirmed harvesting will begin in early June across its Waipara Basin and Claremont Station blocks, signalling the official arrival of New Zealand truffles for 2026.

Since the first Gisborne truffière produced in 1993, more than 40,000 inoculated trees across 100+ sites have been planted from the Bay of Plenty to Canterbury. Yields of well over 100kg per hectare have already been achieved, reputedly among the highest in the world for cultivated truffles. Agronomically, New Zealand isn’t the problem but whether the country can become a serious player in the global truffle game.