Enterprises for the production of black caviar. Russian and world market of black caviar

Caviar production technology This technology involves the production of caviar by the downhole method, the use of a minimum amount of salt and canning without pasteurization. Comparison of black caviar production technologies

Thanks to the applied technologies we produce caviar all year round. Therefore, even in winter you can enjoy the taste of fresh, real black caviar.

All fish undergo a two-month cleaning in running water to eliminate odors and improve the quality of caviar.

The raw materials and materials used for the manufacture of our granular caviar comply with the rules, norms and hygienic standards in force in the territory of the Russian Federation in terms of safety.

Technology "From caviar to caviar"

The plant operates on a closed caviar production cycle. We distribute the resulting fry into two types - for slaughter and for broodstock. The former are grown to obtain caviar for sale, the latter to replenish the herd.

This technology allows replenishing the sturgeon population.

Detailed scheme of caviar production and fish rearing on the territory of the plant Live roe fish from the wintering complex is fed to the sink, and then to the operating table for the removal of ovaries. The percentage of downhole caviar obtained usually does not exceed 9 - 11% of the mass of fish. Yastik from each fish is collected in a separate vase and transferred through the transfer window to the caviar shop for further processing.

Fish after slaughter When transferring, the yastiki are weighed. After weighing, the caviar is sorted by maturity, color, size of eggs, shell strength, smell, taste. Next, the yastyki make their way through the screen to release from the films.

Caviar "grain" is washed in clean chilled water at a temperature of 5ºС to 10ºС to remove blood clots, bursting eggs and pieces of films. The washed caviar is quickly transferred to a sieve and placed to drain water, and then transferred to the ambassador.

Punching the ovaries through a screen to release films For salting caviar, we use salt-mixture with food additive Liv-1 (including E200). Salt for each serving of caviar is weighed separately. Master egg maker installs salt dosage in the range from 3 to 3.8%.

Ambassador of caviar After salting, caviar is immediately packaged in glass or lacquered metal jars. The jars filled with caviar are hermetically sealed on a vacuum seamer.

Then the jars with caviar are inspected, and after wiping and pasting with labels, they are fed to the packaging.

Each jar has a label on the bottom containing the following information:

• Sturgeon caviar
• Unpasteurized aquaculture products
• Ingredients: caviar, salt, food supplement"Liv-1 (including E200)"
• Net weight: from 30 to 1000 grams
• Nutritional value per 100 g of the product: protein - 28 g, fat - 14 g, calories - 238 kcal
• Manufactured and packaged (decade, month, year)
• Shelf life -8 months. At storage temperature from 0 to -4 degrees C
• Vacuum packed.
• TU-9264-001-82711564-12

Caviar is packaged in thermo boxes with gaskets to prevent violation of the hermetic integrity of the caviar jars.

In the case of delivery by courier service, cold plates are placed in a thermo box with jars of caviar to maintain a low temperature during transportation.

The story of the delicacy we lost

Russia is rapidly losing its position in the sturgeon caviar market. Today, it is more profitable to produce a delicacy in China, Europe or Latin America. Why this is happening was investigated by journalist Alexander Kolesnikov, who published this material on the News.ru portal.

Sturgeons sailed from Russia to China

The USSR for many years was considered the world's "caviar power". The annual production of black caviar sometimes reached 2.5 thousand tons, occupying almost 90% of the world market. However, in the last 20 years, the output of the delicacy in the Russian Federation has decreased. Since the 90s, the number of sturgeons in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea has decreased by 38 times, and on the Volga - by 15. Gradually, the country lost its position in the world market and began to import products from other countries.

Experts of the All-Russian Association of Fishery Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters (VARPE) attribute the drop in volumes to total poaching at the end of the last century.

But almost completely sturgeons were exterminated during the mass auctions of 2000-2003. Short-term contracts were concluded with enterprises, and new players were not interested in preserving the population. Poaching, the extreme low release of juveniles into their natural habitat, as well as the growing production of hydrocarbons on the Caspian shelf, have led to disastrous results.

The ban on the extraction of black caviar in natural reservoirs in 2015 became a necessary measure. However, the recovery of the industry is still very far away. According to the Federal Agency for Fishery, last year the country received only 32 tons of sturgeon caviar. WARPE reports 43.9 tons, of which less than 8% (7.8 tons) was exported.

Today, the stocks of these fish species are supported only by artificial reproduction. Specialists grow the so-called broodstock. Depending on the type of sturgeon, the period of puberty of an individual begins at the age of seven. In the case of the "slaughter" method of obtaining caviar, the fish stops its life cycle, and in the case of the "milk" method, the broodstock is preserved. Sturgeon breeds are long-lived, therefore, after spawning, they can exist for several decades, and in the case of the beluga, up to 100 years.

Already in the 1990s-2000s planting material from Russia was exported to Latin America, Europe and China. Abroad, they began to grow sturgeons from fry to mature fish and achieved success. In particular, the producers of the Celestial Empire carried out a large-scale work on hybridization and adaptation of this family to their conditions and became the main supplier of the delicacy in the world.

Business continues to "milk" sturgeons

News.ru was able to contact various Russian companies that deal with sturgeon in Uruguay using the "downhole" method.

Industry representatives told News.ru that almost 99% of domestic caviar is obtained by the intravital method, which has a number of disadvantages.

First, the fish is given a hormonal injection to induce "delivery" and compact the grain. Such a product is considered immature. Secondly, warm water is used to wash the grains, otherwise the mucus cannot be washed off and the grain cannot be strengthened, which leads to mini-pasteurization and loss useful properties. Thirdly, with each subsequent "milking" caviar becomes more and more "empty" - less useful substances and vitamins.

The method was invented by Russian specialists for the purpose of fertilization, and the grain that was rejected went on sale and was a by-product.

"Milking" is a method of reproduction, not for production. Therefore, what domestic farms offer is not black caviar in its traditional sense, Real Service reported.

Meanwhile, VARPE President German Zverev categorically disagrees with this statement: “The technology for the production of “downhole” caviar is more expensive, this type of product is considered to be of higher quality, but this does not mean that “milk” caviar is unsafe or less “environmentally friendly”. These indicators depend on the state of health of the fish itself, which is primarily affected by the conditions of its cultivation and nutrition.

In fact, representatives of the industry switched to cooperation with the farms of Uruguay due to the poor quality of caviar in Russia. The commercial director of the Caviar Russia project, Anton Strizhakov, also previously told News.ru about negative trends in the industry. Among the reasons, the expert singled out low competition in the domestic market, lack of state support, and the dominance of Chinese imports.

Domestic producers, instead of increasing the number of sturgeons, have to use the "milking" method, as it is faster and less costly. It should be noted that business in the Russian Federation even received various economic preferences and state subsidies for this.

There are also ways to mislead customers in the industry. Alexey Alekseenko, assistant to the head of the Rosselkhoznadzor, told News.ru about them: “I care why Russian companies allow you to cover Chinese caviar with your certificates. It's profitable. Chinese costs there only $ 8-10 per 1 kg. And when it is imported here and sold as domestic, the price is already different - 30-34 thousand rubles. But you will not see on the price tags that it is Chinese. And those people who remember the taste of the real one feel the difference.”

Climatic conditions in China, Latin America and Southern Europe are favorable for sturgeon breeding, while in the Russian Federation most of the largest fish breeding complexes are located in a rather cool place for them. As a result, high costs and inability to compete with China.

Imported caviar is most often produced by the traditional downhole method. According to experts, abroad they know and take into account the shortcomings of the "milk" method. In addition, it is banned in many countries around the world.

Due to the fact that Russian companies obtain caviar by this method, there are practically no mature big fish under slaughter.

On the market you can buy live or chilled sturgeon, but weighing no more than 2-4 kg. As a rule, these are males, since they do not need to be "milked".

Thus, there are no good raw materials for shops involved in smoking and salting (losses during heat treatment reach 40%). They need carcasses from 5-6 kg. Abroad, males weighing 8-12 kg and even larger females are used for these purposes. There is no such fish on an industrial scale in Russia, so one can observe a shortage of sturgeon and high prices for such a product.

Previously, the Caspian Sea accounted for about 90% of world sturgeon production, That's why USSR was the main exporter of black caviar. The volume of sturgeon exports from the USSR was 2 thousand tons per year, which by modern standards is simply a huge figure. The second country that went to the Caspian Sea is Iran.

Sturgeons in the Caspian Sea

Subsequently, 5 countries were formed that have access to the Caspian Sea - these are Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran. But due to uncontrolled poaching sturgeon populations in the Caspian Sea have decreased by 50 times which has brought this species to the brink of extinction. That's why international organizations were forced to impose export quotas for these countries.

The export of caviar was banned for Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The only exception was made for Iran, because poaching is very strictly prosecuted in this country. However, within the first four countries, poaching continues to flourish, and illegal caviar enters the domestic market.

Iran quota for the export of black caviar is 50 tons per year. In addition to natural black caviar, Iran is actively seeking to increase the production of black caviar on sturgeon farms. In 2013, they received 3 tons of the product, which encourages investors to increase capacity for industrial breeding of sturgeons. This country supplies its black caviar, as a rule, to Germany, France, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

In 2007, Russia took some measures to stop poaching, so it was given annual quota for export of caviar in the amount of 23.5 tons per year. As for industrial production, according to various estimates, Russia now produces up to 12 tons of black caviar per year in several large fish farms.

large black caviar production started in Saudi Arabia , a large share falls on the enterprise - "Caviar Court Food Processing". The volume of production reaches 6 tons per year. Caviar from Saudi Arabia is exported, including to the CIS countries.

Now in the ponds of Kibbutz Dan there are more than 70 thousand sturgeons, whose age is about 12 years.

In 2008 export of black caviar began and Israel. Basically, he supplies it to the market of Japan, the USA, Europe and even Russia. Mostly in Israel, sturgeon farming takes place on Kibbutz Dan, which began over 10 years ago. Sturgeon fry were purchased in the cities of the Caspian Sea, then using modern method sturgeon breeding, the kibbutz was able to reach such a volume of caviar production that Israel has become one of the world's top exporters. Moreover, black caviar from Israel was recognized as caviar High Quality. The volume of black caviar production in Israel is about 4 tons per year.

Black since 2012 caviar is also produced in the Republic of Pridnestrovie, overall volume - up to 1 ton per year.

There is another country in the world that produces a large number of black caviar in several fish farms. This China. Only three fish farms have reliable statistics on the scale of production: Qinjiang - 10 tons of caviar per year, Shandong - 15 tons, Heilongjiang - 10 tons.

If you want to make Ukraine one of the world's leading exporters of black caviar, you can seriously consider . At Del Mar Fish you can purchase the highest quality sturgeon fry for breeding.

Production rules

Black caviar is much more expensive than red caviar, its production is carried out strictly in accordance with the standards adopted at the legislative level.

On this moment sturgeon fishing for the purpose of obtaining a delicacy is prohibited, since a sharp decline in the population began in the 90s of the last century. Industrial fishing has dealt a blow to the ecosystem, which now takes decades to recover. Black varieties are produced only in specialized fish farms.

Red caviar is a commodity of more mass consumption, but also very valuable and useful. It is used in the preparation of various dishes, for decorating festive tables. A quality product has bright shade, a delicate characteristic aroma (it should not be sharp), a dense grainy texture. Eggs float in watery sludge, which increases their shelf life - jus. More than 5% of the total volume of the product should not account for juice.

Manufacturers

1. "Russian caviar house" - the largest aquaculture of the Russian Federation with an impressive population of sturgeons. The brand carefully monitors the quality of the goods produced, the fish is grown in the Vologda region in close to natural conditions.

2. "Roll" - Astrakhan fishery, which has been growing fish in cages and producing high-quality black caviar since 2007.

3. "Yaroslavsky" (this is the Gorkunov brand) - a large sturgeon fish factory. Fish are grown strictly in closed systems. Caviar is obtained by the downhole method, salt is practically not used during conservation.

4. Rzhev fish breeding complex (TM "Gold of the Caspian Sea") known for its tasty and high-quality salted downhole product. The company's delicacies appeared on the market in 2014, but have already gained popularity. Most series are not pasteurized and therefore require delicate storage.

5. Volgorechenskoeeconomy - the oldest company in its industry, founded in 1974. To obtain a delicacy, a milking method is used, the final product contains a minimum of salt, and there are no preservatives at all. Strict veterinary control is guaranteed.

The legal production of the leading caviar houses guarantees the transparency of the production and marketing structures. Supporting documentation is provided.

Black sturgeon caviar, once harvested in natural conditions, turns into a farm product. Sturgeons have been "domesticated" and bred in specialized farms, like a bird. And to get caviar, they are milked like cows.

Alexander Novikov, head of the Russian Caviar House, remembers well the times when sturgeon caviar was in abundance in stores. The average Soviet citizen could afford to buy a jar of shimmering wet grains (or, at worst, a briquette of pressed caviar) - at least on holidays. Today, black caviar is rather a component of the most complex gourmet meals, completely “untied” from the budget, as well as the menu of pathos parties. Ordinary Russians do without it. And if they still want to create an "atmosphere" - they are content with the popular version. That is, the internal content of pike, painted black.

The USSR once had the status of "the world's main sturgeon producer" and was the largest supplier of sturgeon caviar to the world market. The fact is that almost the entire territory coastline The Caspian Sea to the border with Iran was part of our country, and 95% of the world's sturgeon stock was concentrated in the Caspian.

In the Soviet Union, caviar was taken seriously as a significant source of income for the treasury. A whole caviar industry was created - fish breeding plants were built, as well as special enterprises, which produced only export products. A selective product went abroad, which made it possible to create a “brand” of Russian caviar, famous throughout the world along with such symbols as matryoshka and vodka.

After perestroika in the Caspian Sea, several countries took up sturgeon fishing - Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran. During the period of shortage, poaching began to actively develop, uncontrolled extermination of sturgeon for caviar began. As a result, a stream of products made "on the knee" poured onto the world market. There was a collapse in prices, and the image of high-quality Russian caviar was destroyed. “Many Western caviar companies,” says Alexander Novikov, “then went bankrupt, because they tried to maintain quality and prices. And then the caviar became like mud, and prices collapsed.

Uncontrolled fishing, along with unfavorable environmental factors and the lack of effective actions for the reproduction of brood stocks (funding for fish hatcheries dried up after perestroika) - all this led to a 50-fold reduction in the sturgeon population in the Caspian Sea over the past 20 years. In fact, the species was on the verge of extinction. In order to leave sturgeons at least some chance of recovering their numbers, in 2007 Russia introduced a complete ban on catching them in the Caspian Sea.

Today, Iran occupies the first place in the supply of caviar to the world market. Russia has not exported this product at all for ten years. Only in 2011, the Federal Agency for Fishery allowed exports to countries European Union- in a "symbolic" volume of 150 kilograms per year. Moreover, in the 80s, export volumes reached one and a half thousand tons per month.

It is curious: today in Russia there is a widespread opinion that legal black caviar should not be on sale at all, because its circulation is completely prohibited. Not everyone knows about the existence of such a product category as sturgeon black caviar, produced in aquaculture complexes - fish farms. Products produced on sturgeon farms have never been subject to any legal prohibitions.

Black caviar is, in theory, a very interesting object of production. The commodity is scarce and expensive: with the decline in sturgeon populations, prices for caviar began to rise steadily. So, according to Alexander Novikov, from the beginning of perestroika to the present day, they have risen 20 times. Farms focused on the production of black caviar began to be created in Russia already in the mid-1990s, but so far this market is very small. According to inFOLIO Research Group, official production in 2010 was 19 tons. And according to Nina Zhadan, deputy general director of the Russian Sturgeon trading house, aquaculture enterprises produce 30-35 tons of caviar per year. For comparison: in the USSR, the production of black caviar reached 2,000 tons per year.

There are several dozen companies operating on the aquaculture caviar market in Russia. Notable players are Russian Caviar House (a farm in the Vologda Region), Astrakhan producers Raskat and Beluga, the Karmanovsky fish farm in Bashkortostan, and the CROC fish farm built in the Kaluga Region. Astrakhan companies produce about one and a half to two tons of black caviar per year, the Karmanovsky fish farm - 1,200 kg, the Kaluga sturgeon fish breeding complex will produce 4-4.5 tons of caviar this year, and the Russian Caviar House has already "salted" in 2011 10.5 tons. "Caviar producers" use different production technologies, experiment and try to accustom Russians to "artificial" black caviar, essentially creating a new market.

sparkling wine

Alexander Novikov and his partners started their "caviar" project in 1996, and at that time he had no experience in fish farming. But my instinct suggested: it is better to focus on the production of caviar, and not corny grow sturgeon or carp "for meat". “Then,” he recalls, “even without seven spans in the forehead one could understand: very soon there would be no fish or caviar left in Russia. We saw that we could become one of the first producers of aquacultured caviar.” But the businessman's entourage did not believe in the viability of the project. The cost of the product, according to calculations, turned out to be twice the price at which caviar was then sold in stores - and the market at that time was black and black from cheap poaching goods. In addition, investments here were and remain very “long”. The sturgeon does not tolerate fuss: it bears caviar slowly, at least 8 years pass before the first receipt of ripe caviar grains, and in wild nature- and all 14.

“I like to compare caviar with wine,” Novikov says with gusto. - To get a good drink, you need to grow the “right” grapes, and here every little thing matters: is there a vineyard on the southern or northern slope of the hill, on what soil does it grow, what is the weather like, etc. We also have our caviar in a certain sense "we grow". The critical factor is the quality of the water. But you still need to select food, temperature conditions. It's hard work."

Fish farm Novikov "Belovodie" is located in the Cherepovets district of the Vologda region. This is 450 tons of sturgeon broodstock: populations of the Lena, Siberian breeds are bred on the farm, herds of Russian sturgeon “ripen” ... According to the entrepreneur, this is a productive livestock that is already laying eggs. It is kept in "semi-free" conditions. When breeding fish, the water of the local river Suda is used, as well as the warm drains of the Cherepovetskaya GRES. Breeding fish for caviar is not the easiest process; for this, it is not enough to periodically throw food into the pool or cage and count the number of tails flashing in the water. According to Novikov, each female sturgeon is pulled out of the water 28 times a year: the fish is given an ultrasound scan, it is weighed, the stage of caviar maturity and the course of development of the fish organism as a whole are checked.

Caviar in most aquaculture farms is obtained by "milking". Fish after this procedure remains alive. The soft, caviar-filled "belly" of the female sturgeon is carefully incised; at the same time, the fish almost does not feel pain: it is already ready to give up the ripened black grains. “I think our women suffer more when they give birth,” Novikov jokes. There is also a "downhole" method of production, when the fish is destroyed when taking caviar. But it is not often practiced: after all, sturgeon can spawn in artificial conditions life every two years for at least a dozen years (that is, at least five times), and farms do not want to lose such a goose that lays golden eggs.

Alexander Novikov has invested $15 million in the caviar business over the entire period of the project's existence. Today, the businessman estimates the value of his assets at 150 million - a good result. long term project. He is not going to stop at the existing herd of 450 tons: the company will expand the range, including through beluga caviar - the most expensive on the market. This is due to the fact that the beluga grows twice as long as the sturgeon. The “laid” beluga herds on the farm are slowly “maturing,” the entrepreneur says.

Astrakhan companies have their own way. Here, they did not start with rearing "fry": most often it was possible to create or thoroughly replenish sturgeon brood stocks, using quotas (scientific, in order to reproduce the population) for catching fish in the wild. For example, this is the case with the Raskat company, which began producing black caviar in 2007. Previously, the enterprise was engaged in the reproduction of sturgeons. As a matter of fact, food caviar for Roll was a side direction, but now it is turning into a main one.

“The fertilized caviar was not in demand by the state in the volume that we had,” says Maxim Sergeev, general director of the company. “And we repurposed.” One of the advantages of Astrakhan companies is that Russian consumers are used to considering "Astrakhan" caviar the best. “This is a highly profitable business,” Sergeev admits. - The main thing is to establish a sales system. Our production has been debugged for a long time.”

Meanwhile, a number of companies in Astrakhan do not hesitate to work with poaching caviar.

“More than 70% of the caviar sold by Astrakhan companies is an illegal product,” says one of the market players. - They have worked out these processes for years. Buying caviar from poachers for 10,000 rubles per kilogram and selling it for 35 or more is their entire business. This is a long-standing problem of the Astrakhans. Here he is, a sturgeon, swimming nearby in the river ... How not to take him?

In turn, the Karmanovsky fish farm (Republic of Bashkortostan) considers caviar production rather as an additional direction that has arisen naturally: the farm is engaged in the commercial production of sturgeon, while most of the resulting caviar goes to the reproduction of the herd, and the rest is processed into caviar. “It is not interesting to deal only with caviar, purposefully,” says the head of the farm, Igor Armyaninov. In his opinion, the cost of maintaining a sturgeon broodstock is not quite comparable with the possible profit from the sale of caviar. To produce a ton of caviar, the fish farm has to "serve" 20 tons of fish. Large areas are needed - a line of one hundred cages (10 square meters each), and with the growth of the herd, it is necessary to constantly increase the capacity, build new pools and cages, and recruit people. At the same time, sturgeon females spawn irregularly - sometimes less than once every two years. And you need to be prepared for losses: the survival rate of fish is only 15% in the period from the “fry” stage to the sexually mature state. For every sturgeon and beluga there is a divine providence, the players joke: sometimes they just die. “Many caviar projects are in a pre-bankrupt state,” Armenianinov throws up his hands. “And someone has already suffered so much and despaired that he is ready to put his flock under the knife.” It is not worth even dreaming about stability in this business. “Last summer, in the hellish heat, 20% of our producers died,” the entrepreneur complains.

Is it long, is it short?

The long-term nature of projects in the field of sturgeon breeding and caviar production is what can seriously scare investors. According to Alexander Novikov, if you start from scratch, then you will be able to break even in 10 years. But then you can count on 25-30% of the annual return on invested capital. “When we started, I thought it would be 60%,” he notes. “But our calculations turned out to be wrong.”

If you acquire already grown individuals or a completely mature herd, ready to give caviar, then the time will be reduced. But you'll have to spend a lot of money. “Those who have grown fish to the state of “maturity” sell it for five thousand rubles per kilogram, says Igor Armyaninov. - If the fish is three or four years old (such individuals belong to the category of "senior repair"), then a thousand each." Thus, in order to purchase a herd ready for the production of a ton of caviar per year, 100 million rubles will have to be paid. However, it should be taken into account that the transportation and “immersion” of sturgeon in new conditions of existence can lead to malfunctions in their physiology, Armenianinov warns: “We sometimes buy producers who seem to be “stuffed” with caviar to the eyeballs, we bring them - but for two years they have nothing at all give."

The use of recirculating water supply installations helps to bring closer the time of the first production of caviar from sturgeon and the payback of the project. For example, the Kaluga sturgeon fish breeding complex (part of the Russian Sturgeon holding), established in 2007, works according to this principle. According to Nina Zhadan, deputy general director of the Russian Sturgeon trading house, the caviar “ripening” cycle here is three to four years. Estimated payback of the complex is six years.

“Installations of a closed type are not a very promising direction,” says one of the market participants. - It is impossible to completely clean the water, so the caviar has a strong taste of compound feed and fish waste products. Yes, fish can be planted before obtaining caviar and “washed” for a long time. But it will break the whole technology.”

However, Russian Sturgeon now sells not only caviar obtained in Russia. The trading house imports up to 70% of its products from Germany. This is caviar produced by the "downhole" method. According to Nina Zhadan, it is even more in demand than "aquaculture" because it has a softer grain. And consumers are beginning to understand the differences between “traditional” and “ovulated” caviar (obtained from live fish). Zhadan is well acquainted with the habits of refined gourmets: "Many people like to be able to press the caviar to the palate with their tongue - and all the grains would burst at the same time, as if they would" click "in the mouth."

Despite the capricious nature of sturgeons, as well as long payback periods and high risks of agricultural business, investors are moving into this segment. In terms of initial investment, it is not so difficult: you can start in sturgeon breeding with an eye to obtaining several tens of tons of caviar with an amount of one hundred million rubles, and according to the players, just 40 million will be enough to simply equip a fish farm. There would be a reservoir with clean water and experienced fish farmers. These are actually the most difficult conditions to fulfill.

Alexander Novikov claims that at least five large sturgeon breeding projects have been launched in Russia to date, with an eye to the production of caviar in aquaculture complexes, and they have a chance to achieve good results. And the head of the public relations center of the Federal Agency for Fishery, Alexander Savelyev, recently made a statement that an investment boom has begun in the industry, as the playing conditions in the black caviar market are becoming more certain, and investors have realized that the state is ready to support legal business in this area. According to him, sturgeon farms were built in last years in Rostov and Novosibirsk regions, in the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea.

However, these “most definite” outlines of the rules of the game on the caviar market are being formed rather slowly. According to inFOLIO Research Group, "official" products account for less than 1% of the Russian and about 6-7% of the capital market in real terms. It turns out that the market is almost completely black - with rare glimpses of "aquaculture". According to Alexander Novikov, illegally produced caviar accounts for 90% of total sales, or about 200 tons. “Poachers' caviar greatly “interrupts” the market for us,” says Maxim Sergeev (“Roll”). - Legally produced can cost 60-80 thousand rubles per kilogram in retail. Illegal - many times cheaper. Our customer is the one who does not know where to buy caviar from under the floor, or knows, but is afraid to do it.”

Meanwhile, in wholesale prices, the gap between poached and legal caviar is not so great. “In Astrakhan, poaching caviar costs around 20 thousand per kilogram, which is quite expensive,” they say in the Karmanovsky fish farm. Produced in "aquaculture" caviar is sold in bulk for an average of 30-35 thousand.

Products "from poachers" are becoming more expensive, as this market itself is shrinking. “Illegally caught caviar is now sold ten times less than 10 years ago: there are few fish in the Caspian,” says Maxim Sergeev. According to Alexander Novikov, poachers are crying: before, they say, they came every time with a catch, but now it’s not the same ... It seems that the participants of the “aquaculture” caviar market have room to move. There would be solvent consumer demand. Still, black caviar in Russia has long turned into a kind of "figure of speech". It is on everyone's lips, but few remember its taste.

Holiday every day

Black caviar is a holiday product, which, in fact, has only one drawback - a high price. According to inFOLIO Research Group experts, only one percent of Russians can afford to buy caviar on a regular basis, and 4% for the festive table. “We have a circle of consumers whose behavior does not depend on the situation in the economy,” says Nina Zhadan (“Russian Sturgeon”). “This is their rule of life: start every morning with black caviar.” It is clear that this is an extremely small “population” of Russians. For most, caviar is too expensive. But the problem is not only this. The younger generation of Russians is little familiar with this delicacy, and therefore does not necessarily include it in the imaginary interiors of the “beautiful life”.

The most difficult thing is selling caviar, of course, in regional markets. In the Karmanovsky fish farm, they say bluntly: it is extremely difficult to sell even a ton of black caviar per year. “Neighboring Neftekamsk, a city with a population of 120,000 people, eats 2-3 kilograms of caviar a year,” says Igor Armyaninov. - Ufa, a million-plus city, - a maximum of 50 kilograms. We sell most of the products through the online store and to Moscow supermarket chains - including working with Auchan and METRO. One Auchan can sell no more than 5-6 cans in a week.”

The Karmanovsky fish farm makes its way to the Moscow market through a special pricing policy: according to players, its products are about 30% cheaper than the market average. “If a farm is focused exclusively on caviar,” explains Armyaninov, “it has a price limit below which it cannot fall. And caviar brings us only 5-7% of the revenue, and we can sometimes afford to go for dumping in order to sell the products.” The turnover of the fish farm in the caviar direction is 20 million rubles.

Despite the seemingly very limited number of more or less successful sturgeon breeders, the black caviar market is quite competitive: according to experts, domestic demand is generally satisfied, which does not allow us to expect a large increase in sales. At the same time, theoretically, our market can enter and foreign manufacturers: the production of caviar in aquaculture farms in the world is quite common. However, while the supply of imported caviar to Russia is rare. Although, as retailers say, there have been many offers lately - mainly from suppliers from Israel, Saudi Arabia (caviar produced in closed systems), France, Germany and even China. But taste qualities Imported products are not always satisfied with sellers.

“Imported caviar is most often obtained from fish obtained by crossing several subspecies of sturgeon, and in fact cannot be either beluga, or sturgeon, or stellate sturgeon, or sterlet in pure form, - comments Oksana Tokareva, Head of Corporate Communications at METRO Cash & Carry. “Connoisseurs consider “impure” caviar to be less refined.”

The Globus Gourmet network sells only domestic caviar. “We made two shipments of caviar from France under the Petrosyan brand, but it sold very poorly,” says Larisa Sysoeva, category manager at Capital Trading Company LLC (Globus Gourmet and Zhukovka Gourmet gastronomes). “Our consumer is attached to the classic, traditional taste of Russian caviar, while imported caviar has a completely different pickling and grain structure.”

In addition, chains admit that they are sometimes afraid to deal with deliveries from abroad: it is no secret that “imported” caviar can have Russian origin. “A lot of poached caviar is exported abroad, where it is packaged and sent back to Russia,” one of the supermarket chains says.

Globus Gourmet states that sales of black caviar are growing: in the first half of 2011, compared to the same period last year, they increased by 15% in the chain as a whole. METRO Cash & Carry also points to a slight increase in caviar consumption.

Obviously the market legal caviar will develop, but the well-being of Russians is unlikely to be able to ensure its rapid growth. Meanwhile, the products must be sold today, and the players are looking for "exits" to foreign markets. According to Alexander Novikov, it's not just about sales per se, but also about taking care of the image: “For any large caviar company, presence on the world market is an indispensable attribute of business. This is the specifics of the caviar business.” "Russian Caviar House" opens its representative offices in London and Zurich, as well as in United Arab Emirates, USA, Brazil. The company began trial deliveries to the markets of the USA, Japan, South Africa. The Russian Sturgeon holding is also trying to supply caviar to Canada and the Emirates. Companies have to use such "exotic" options, since access to European countries is closed to them. As Alexander Novikov explains, Russia has not signed the document regulating the production of aquaculture products and signed by the majority European countries. Therefore, no one will allow Russian caviar to be imported into the EU countries. Given this circumstance, the statements of the Federal Agency for Fishery about the start of caviar exports to Europe look strange. Novikov believes that officials have not yet had time or did not want to change the laws that regulated the circulation of wild caviar. They need to be changed in accordance with the new realities of the market - that is, taking into account the emergence of legal aquaculture production.

Market players expect that the development of legal production of black caviar will eventually lead to a gradual decrease in prices, and the product itself will be divided into several quality categories. But this will happen not in the future of several years, but much later. So, as Alexander Savelyev (Rosrybolovstvo) said in a television interview, one should not have illusions that soon we will eat black caviar with spoons: it will remain a delicacy, and it does not matter whether it is an artificial product or a gift from nature.

Vera Kolerova