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Conditions at the Riofrío sturgeon farm are ideal for the fish, which are exclusively fed on organic vegetables and fishmeat sustainably sourced in a natural environment.
“Sturgeon have a very slow metabolism and growth rate. They are not a breed for impatient people. We don’t accelerate the process in any way, letting the animal produce the caviar as it would do in nature,” explains Ignacio Alba Alejandre, a veterinarian at Caviar Riofrío.
Natural water comes from a spring just 300 metres upstream of the facilities. Organic caviar is made here with only sturgeon eggs and salt. There are no additives. Every year the company markets some two tonnes of three different varieties of caviar, including exports to Japan, Taiwan, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Portugal, among other countries. The most exclusive variety has fetched up to €8,000 per kilo.
“Behind the organic certification, we seek to assure the customer that this product meets very high standards. We have very subtle flavours that enable you to enjoy the caviar as if you could go to the river or sea, catch the fish and eat that caviar fresh,” says Carlos Portela, the company’s managing director.
Every year, the company also markets some 15 tonnes of sturgeon meat, either smoked or confit.
A long-time luxury delicatessen, organic caviar and its by-products are now reaching new markets and customers, managers claim. “It’s a delicacy. You never eat caviar by the spoonful. It’s something to savour, something you give time, its own moment; it’s very much linked to the happiness of gatherings with family or friends,” Portela says.
That’s the case even far away from the sturgeon farm. On the shores of the Mediterranean, the restaurant Los Marinos José serves around 80 covers every day in winter and up to 200 during the summer high season. Fresh fish and shellfish round off the offering. In the last few years, culinary creations with caviar have increasingly found a place on their menu.
“It’s not as expensive as it used to be, as the range of suppliers and producers has broadened a bit now,” says Pablo Sánchez López, the restaurant’s chef and co-owner. “We’re trying to make it affordable so that everyone can taste it. What we want is for people to try it and be able to eat something different to what they normally eat.”
70% of caviar consumed around the world comes from Chinese fish farms. It’s not Russian or Iranian, and of course, not wild, managers at Caviar Riofrío conclude.