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Agence France-Presse

The caviar on the menu of Michelin-starred restaurants may come from an unexpected place: China.
The country has endured embarrassing food scandals in recent years, but its sturgeon eggs have gained the respect of caviar connoisseurs around the world.
It has also become pricier for US buyers as Chinese caviar is among the slew of products hit with 25 per cent tariffs in the US-China trade war.
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.
Meet the disabled woman who battled adversity to build a business
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.
Coding is child’s play in China, where an eight-year-old is a tutor
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.’”


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Trade

How China came to satisfy the world’s appetite for caviar

This picture taken on November 12, 2019 shows a sturgeon at a fishery run by Chinese caviar company Kaluga Queen in Qiandao lake, China's Zhejiang province. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "CHINA-ECONOMY-CAVIAR" BY LUDOVIC EHRET

This picture taken on November 12, 2019 shows employees of Chinese caviar company Kaluga Queen cutting open a sturgeon for its roe at the firm's processing facility in Quzhou city, China's Zhejiang province. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "CHINA-ECONOMY-CAVIAR" BY LUDOVIC EHRET

Kaluga Queen’s reputation for caviar brings status to the Chinese industry, admirers say. Photo: AFP

Trump’s tariffs on Chinese caviar may stop a quiet takeover of the world’s gourmet kitchens

Kaluga Queen caviar products. Kaluga Queen, (Chinese name, Quzhou Xunlong Aquatic Products Sci-Tech development Co. Ltd), world's largest caviar producer, is pictured in Quzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, on Jul. 26, 2018. Kaluga Queen's caviar product is affected by the US-China trade war. 25JUL18 SCMP/Simon Song

A Chinese worker shows the procedure of breeding sturgeons in order to produce caviar to be exported at a sturgeon farm of Sichuan Runzhao Fisheries Co. in Chengdu city, southwest China's Sichuan province, 16 December 2017.

"Made in China" products are increasingly gaining momentum in foreign countries, even in the caviar sector which has traditionally been dominated by foreign players such as Russia and Iran, said a senior executive of a domestic caviar producer. In the past, the caviar export market was dominated by Iran and Russia. But overfishing has led to shrinking supplies, which offers a great chance for Chinese local producers to fill the gap, he noted.

Workers select sturgeons at the breeding center. Kaluga Queen, (Chinese name, Quzhou Xunlong Aquatic Products Sci-Tech development Co. Ltd), world's largest caviar producer, is pictured in Quzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, on Jul. 26, 2018. Kaluga Queen's caviar product is affected by the US-China trade war. 25JUL18 SCMP/Simon Song

Sturgeons are bred in order to produce caviar to be exported at a sturgeon farm of Sichuan Runzhao Fisheries Co. in Chengdu city, southwest China's Sichuan province, 16 December 2017.

"Made in China" products are increasingly gaining momentum in foreign countries, even in the caviar sector which has traditionally been dominated by foreign players such as Russia and Iran, said a senior executive of a domestic caviar producer. In the past, the caviar export market was dominated by Iran and Russia. But overfishing has led to shrinking supplies, which offers a great chance for Chinese local producers to fill the gap, he noted.

A large sturgeon in the breeding pond at Quzhou Xunlong Aquatic Products Sci-Tech Development Co, which sells its caviar under the brand name of Kaluga Queen. Xunlong, the world's largest caviar producer, is based in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. Photo: SCMP/Simon Song.

Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods just the ‘art of the deal’, analysts say

China and the US are still working on the details of an interim trade deal to end their trade war. Photo: AFP

The Swansea container ship sails out of New York Harbor in New York, U.S., on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019. President Donald Trump said that the U.S. hasn't agreed to roll back all tariffs on China, muddying hopes raised by China and even some of his own aides that the U.S. was ready to lift some tariffs to secure a trade deal. Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg

News

China

People & Culture


China’s Kaluga Queen spawned business that now produces more than a third of the world’s caviar
French importer says his customers overcame reluctance to buy Chinese and there are more to be persuaded



China’s Kaluga Queen spawned business that produces more than a third of world’s caviar and its French importer says customers overcame reluctance to buy Chinese and there are more to be persuaded.


China economy

Food and agriculture

Conservation