“The mushroom market has been significantly affected by this summer’s drought,” says Aurélien Camillari from Champilyon. “This fall, there were very few golden chanterelles, St. George’s mushroom and fresh chanterelles. Luckily, volumes are now increasing, and the shortage will not cause any problems during the Christmas period.”
As it is the case every year around Christmas, mushroom prices are quite high. For all the wild mushrooms, prices have gone up 15 to 20%. “The prices of imported mushrooms and mushrooms cultivated in France, like the portobello mushroom or the oyster mushrooms, are also rising.”
Champilyon is located in the wholesale market of Lyon-Corbas. The company commercializes a wide range of fruits and vegetables and specializes in wild mushrooms.
“The most popular varieties around Christmas are the grey and yellow chanterelle, the golden chanterelle and the horn of plenty mushrooms. Among the dried varieties, the boletus is the most popular.”
Mushrooms are on the Christmas menus in restaurants and at home
The mushrooms commercialized by Champilyon come from all around Europe. Most of them are cultivated in France, but the company also imports portobello mushrooms cultivated in the Netherlands. The products are marketed in France and a little bit in Switzerland.
Low prices for the truffles
Aurélien finds it surprising that the prices for truffles are so low. “The quantities are not huge, but we expected the prices to be very high. In the end, the demand is lower than in the previous years, both for the French truffle and the Italian Alba truffle.”
The truffles are generally less ripe than in the previous years. “The ripening of the mushrooms depends on the cold temperatures. So we are offering products of a very high quality but whose taste is less pronounced than in the previous years. I think people will wait until January.”
For more information :
Aurélien Camillari
Champilyon
olincam@gmail.com
www.marchedegros-lyoncorbas.com