How China came to satisfy the worlds appetite for caviar

The bulk of China’s production comes from a farm on a picturesque lake ringed by mountains in eastern Zhejiang province, where Kaluga Queen breeds the giant fish.

The brand was created in 2005 by experts who worked for the ministry of agriculture and it now produces more than a third of the world’s caviar, making China the market leader.

The company’s sturgeon farm is a 20-minute boat ride from Qiandao, or Thousand Islands Lake.

Breeder Qiao Yuwen said the biggest sturgeon can grow to be four metres (13 feet) long and weigh 300kg (660 pounds).

“They’re like our babies,” he said. “We see them from when they’re very young, so it’s hard when they are sent to be slaughtered.

“But there’s also, of course, the satisfaction of having contributed to making an exceptional product,” he said before throwing pellets containing shrimp, peas and vitamins to the fish.

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For many years, Iran and Russia fished wild sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. But the fish population was nearly decimated by overfishing and poaching after the Soviet Union, which regulated the industry, collapsed in 1991.

Sturgeon fishing in the Caspian was banned in 2008 while sturgeon farms have sprang up across the world, with Italy, France and China setting the pace.

Kaluga Queen has 300 employees who look after about 200,000 sturgeon.

Once the females reach sexual maturity, they are fished out of the water and taken to a laboratory where they are stunned before their bellies are cut open to extract the black eggs.

The roe is washed, sorted, salted and packaged.

Kaluga Queen produced 86 tonnes of caviar last year, most of it destined for export, with half going to the European Union, 20 per cent to the United States and 10 per cent to Russia.

Depending on the species, the price per kilogram varies between 10,000 and 180,000 yuan (US$1,400 to US$25,600).

Sturgeon producing the most expensive caviar can carry as much as 2 million yuan worth of eggs.

“It’s the price of a Ferrari,” said Xia Yongtao, the company’s vice-president.

Kaluga Queen had walked a “long road” to win the trust of customers since the company produced its first jar in 2006, he said.

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Chinese caviar had to overcome scepticism from overseas clients who were used to headlines about food scandals, from contaminated milk powder to soy sauce containing arsenic and rice tainted with cadmium.

“A few years ago, customers were reluctant when we talked about Chinese caviar,” said Raphael Bouchez, president of Kaviari, a Paris-based supplier to restaurants.

He said he convinced customers by explaining how Chinese producers raised fish and used methods that respected the environment.

“Chinese caviar, it must be said, is a very good caviar,” Bouchez said.

“That said, many of the chefs still do not want it. They prefer to have caviar from France, Uruguay, or elsewhere.”

Today, Kaluga Queen has an annual turnover of 220 million yuan and counts German airline Lufthansa and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, a two Michelin stars rated restaurant in Shanghai, among its customers.

Distributors supply other restaurants and, according to Xia, one buyer said he had delivered a shipment to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

French chef Guy Savoy, whose Paris restaurant has three Michelin stars and is rated best in the world, uses Chinese caviar with skate wings and scallops.

“The label ‘made in China’ does not matter,” he said. “The important thing is the quality of the breeding. Those supplied to us are of remarkable quality.”

Lily Liu, Kaluga Queen’s marketing manager, hoped somebody else would try her company’s caviar.

“We hope that Donald Trump will taste our caviar and say: ‘I like it. Let’s reduce tariffs and help Chinese caviar conquer America.’”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Mainland satisfies the world’s appetite for caviar viar 'queen': Chinese roe reigns around the world

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