Shraman Mitra
The founders of the Truffle Shuffle went on to season 12 of the show hoping for a significant investment. An honest effort to make the finest of truffles available to restaurants around the United States, this company sure got us curious. Let’s find out all about Truffle Shuffle’s growth since their appearance on the show, shall we?
Truffle Shuffle: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
Truffle Shuffle is the brainchild of Chefs Jason McKinney and Tyler Vorce. Jason’s wife, Sarah McKinney (nee Rundle), is also a part of the founding team. Jason, Tyler, and Sarah fell in love with truffles while working at the iconic Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry. They were amazed at how an already excellent dish could be elevated to greater levels by a magical touch of truffles.
While working with truffles, they also became aware of how the distribution of good quality truffles was affected by the black market and counterfeit products. Truffles are a delicacy. They are available for just a few months in a year, and because they grow among tree roots, they can only be extracted by special truffle-sniffing dogs. Such challenging conditions make availability rare while keeping the price high. Yet, truffles have grown popular over the years, and demand is always high.
Some unscrupulous people take advantage of this demand and fill the black market with counterfeit, artificially enhanced, stolen, or even chemically reproduced truffles. Such truffles harm restaurants and diners as neither do they taste as good nor are they healthy enough to consume. Truffle Shuffle was born to combat these problems. Through their company, Jason and Tyler are determined to supply only the freshest and most delicate of truffles. Their truffles are devoid of any artificial flavoring and are 100% natural. They also keep tabs on every shipment so that people can be assured of their quality.
Truffle Shuffle: Where Are They Now?
After launching their company, Truffle Shuffle was doing quite well, providing restaurants with top-quality truffles. Their real setback arrived when the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restaurants they catered to shut down. At this juncture, Tyler and Jason found themselves stuck with truffles worth almost $20,000. Since truffles are highly perishable, they were hard-pressed to find a method through which they could use their pent-up stock.
The company then came up with the idea of meal kits, which consists of all the raw materials needed to make a specific item like Truffle Grilled Cheese & Porcini Consommé or Truffle Risotto. Through meal kits, Jason and Tyler made it easy even for home cooks to follow their instructions and whip up restaurant-quality meals at home. These kits were an instant success and brought in much-needed revenue. During the pandemic, Truffle Shuffle also launched their virtual cooking class cum talk show called ‘Dinner with Truffle Shuffle.’
The chefs understood that since the pandemic had forced people inside their homes, there was a huge opportunity to launch online virtual cooking classes that would entertain and help people learn exquisite dishes. Through their cooking class, they were also able to promote their meal kits and their own line of products, which in turn, increased sales. Interestingly, they were able to rope in Snoop Dogg to host a cooking class and judge a pasta rolling competition. Truffle Shuffle was also featured in ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’, which introduced their product to a global audience.
Apart from selling fresh truffles, Truffle Shuffle has also introduced a marvelous line of what they call their “small-batch products.” Balinese Truffle Salt, Black Truffle Kettle Corn, Black Truffle Carpaccio, and Brown Butter Truffle Honey are some of their best-selling products. They sell gift cards and gift boxes for special occasions. The company has also started selling T-shirts and truffle shavers for people who want to show their support. Truffle Shuffle’s products range from $30 and can reach up to $125 for a bag of Black Truffle Kettle Corn. These excellent products are available from their website as well as Whole Foods Market and also the major online retailer, Amazon.
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