Black caviar deposit. Black caviar production: Russia, the world and “black gold”

Investments in aquaculture farms are believed to have helped. At the same time, producers of black caviar often do not indicate on the labels that the fish was grown in artificial conditions, fearing that there would be no demand for the product.

The production of black caviar in Russia over the ten months of 2019 increased by 23.3% compared to the same period last year. Rosrybolovstvo reports this on its website with reference to Rosstat data. Production of salmon caviar (red caviar), on the contrary, decreased by 4.4% - to 19.3 thousand tons.

Aquaculture farms have begun to grow more sturgeon species, Rosrybolovstvo explains.

According to RBC, owned by Grigory Berezkin, in 2015-2016 they began actively building cages for sturgeon fish. Since 2005, Russia has banned sturgeon fishing in the waters of the Volga and Caspian Sea. Only aquaculture farms can produce black caviar.

In December 2018, the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergei Dankver, said that more than half of the black caviar on the Russian market goes on sale without indicating the manufacturer in the accompanying documents. The agency was unable to establish the origin of 60% of black caviar.

According to him, the path from the manufacturer to the counter can only be traced for caviar that comes into the country from abroad, and caviar Russian production is virtually ownerless.

Manufacturers often do not indicate on the labels that their caviar is a product of aquaculture, that is, grown in artificial conditions, the official noted. Since this is a very expensive product, they are afraid that the demand for such caviar will fall. Fish farms use the regions of the Caspian Sea or Astrakhan in the name of caviar, although this is not true.

Rosselkhoznadzor reported that on the eve of the New Year the agency will strengthen control over caviar sold on the street. If a counterfeit is detected, the product will be withdrawn from sale. And in the future, labeling may become mandatory.

Such control will solve the problem illegal trafficking caviar, which now accounts for about 80% of the market.

The department estimated the volume of illegal products at 200 thousand tons. This is poached caviar.

In addition, significant volumes of black caviar are supplied from China. In the Far East, it is sold wholesale at a price of 6-8 thousand rubles per kilogram.

Whereas the average cost of black caviar produced legally from producers is 30-40 thousand rubles per kilogram.

When fish move from their habitat upstream to their usual spawning grounds, they become easy prey for poachers. In such conditions, adult individuals have no chance to spawn eggs and leave offspring. As a result, sturgeon populations in nature are decreasing.

In the Caspian Sea, the sturgeon population has decreased almost 40 times over the past decade and a half. Sterlet, beluga and sturgeon in natural conditions are extremely rare. There is almost none left in the Sea of ​​Azov.

To preserve the sturgeon population, a ban was introduced in 2007 on the sale of black caviar and sturgeon in markets. In 2012, by a joint decision of the Caspian countries, commercial fishing was banned.

Caviar is obtained in two ways. The first is the traditional "slaughter" method, in which it is extracted from killed fish. This method was used in the industrial catching of wild sturgeon and in their breeding in some fish farming complexes.

The second method is increasingly used today on industrial farms. Since sturgeon can produce caviar every two years for at least a dozen years, it makes sense to keep the females alive in order to receive this product from them several times. To do this, they are “milked” by expressing the eggs. This gentle method of production is called artificial spawning.

In nature, fish of the sturgeon family are considered long-lived. Under natural conditions, stellate sturgeon lives up to 30 years, sturgeon - longer than 50 years, and some species of sturgeon and beluga can swim for about 100 years.

These fish are very prolific: often the mass of eggs in large females is almost a quarter of the total body weight, and the number of eggs is hundreds of thousands. But the construction of hydroelectric power stations, which cut off the path to spawning grounds, and the current rate of sturgeon fishing threaten their complete destruction.

Most fish in this family are anadromous. This means that they live in sea water or freshwater lakes, and for spawning they rise up rivers, often covering considerable distances.

In a shabby house somewhere outside of Astrakhan there is a small iron stove: in it dozens of sturgeon carcasses taken from poachers are smoldering. Around are several witnesses with downcast faces from among the employees. law enforcement. The smell is incredible. This is how the golden age of sturgeon poaching in Russia is dying out: the fish, exterminated by illegal fishing, the development of large-scale industry, and environmental miscalculations, is turning from wild to aquaculture. Legal business is entering the scene.

For at least ten years, its owners have been raising herds of fish, and now they are receiving dividends: the production of black caviar has more than doubled over the past five years. Who are these new owners of the industry, what laws do they work under, and how profitable is their business?

It’s night, the border guards are chasing us, shooting. The owner of the boat is wearing a bulletproof vest. And our boat is narrow, plastic, like a sports boat - are you watching racing? two thousand two hundred Horse power squeezes, presses against the engine and flies! - a former poacher, and now an ordinary Astrakhan taxi driver loves speed and now, pressing on the gas of his car, deftly maneuvers between other cars on the road. “The owner yells: “Jump!”, and I: “I’d rather sit it out!” So we went twice, and then I said: no, I’m quitting, my daughter is growing up. And there were so many cases: they shot, drowned, left. Pirates, Dagestanis-Magestanis. Who is to blame, who will find you at sea?

They say that in Astrakhan every second person is a poacher. They are probably exaggerating about the city, but about the region, perhaps not: the fishing districts of Ikryaninsky, Limansky, Volodarsky and Kamyzyaksky, where almost half of the region’s population lives, are located in the lower Volga region: you left the house, set up a net - and here’s your catch. However, you shouldn’t count on sturgeon. About 20 years ago, during spawning on the Volga, one could see the carcasses of sharp-nosed fish with ripped open bellies, floating with the current. The fishermen only took out the caviar and did not bother with the meat. Now there are almost no fish.

According to the latest data from Rosrybovodstvo (for 2013), in the Russian waters of the Caspian Sea there were less than 10 million sturgeon “fed” - fish “walking” in the sea and spawning in the river: 7.4 million Russian sturgeon fish, 1.1 million sturgeon and 1.2 million beluga. Previously, they counted in thousands of tons: at the end of the 70s there were 27,400 tons of fish.

“The poachers themselves say that there are no fish,” confirms Mikhail Shevyakov, deputy head of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Astrakhan Region. - In March, we detained over a ton of sturgeon - you can’t look at the fish without tears: about thirty centimeters, these are children. Previously, they didn’t take such things, now they choose the leftovers.” Old-timers of the police still remember sturgeon from the 90s under two tons, and caviar that they tried to transport by KAMAZ trucks.

Industrial fishing of beluga was banned in 2000, Russian sturgeon and stellate sturgeon - in 2005. The talkative taxi driver, who claims that during his poaching days he went by the nickname “Elusive,” went fishing in the Caspian Sea until 2010. And in 2014, I gave up river fishing: “I caught the last sturgeon weighing 6 kg in my village. Then I decided to try myself “dry” - anything but fish,” explains the reckless driver.

Caviar instead of a hotel

In the early 2000s, a kilogram of Caspian sturgeon caviar could be bought in the markets of Astrakhan for 1,600 rubles; for 1 kg of fish they asked for 130 rubles. “The cost of our fish when we started was 230 rubles per kg,” recalls Igor Bukatov, co-owner of the Astrakhan company Aquatrade, which is now one of the top three caviar producers in the region and among the top five in the country (about 2 tons of caviar per year ).

But the transition of sturgeon to the category of exclusive dishes was obvious: there was less caviar, and fishing was prohibited. Companies for raising sturgeon in captivity have appeared in Russia, most of them have mastered the method of “milking” the fish - obtaining caviar “live” (another option, which Aquatrade also uses, is to slaughter caviar fish).

“When we invested the first money in this business, we believed that in three years we would already be driving a Porsche 911,” smiles Bukatov. He never bought a Porsche, he admits. I arrived at the restaurant to meet with a journalist in a Toyota Prado. Bukatov estimates the profitability of Aquatrade’s business in 2015 at 20%, and, seemingly jokingly, laments: “It would be better if we bought a hotel!”

Black and white

There are several dozen producers of black caviar in Russia, less than ten large ones. According to Rosrybolovstvo, last year they produced just over 43 tons of caviar, of which 6.7 tons were exported. In 2006, when fishing in the Caspian Sea was just banned, according to estimates from a representative of the Traffic program, which studies trade in biological resources in Russia, there were over 500 tons of poached black caviar on the market.

“In the 2000s there was a golden time,” the ex-poacher-taxi driver says confidentially: I had 30,000 in my pocket, like 100 rubles now. I went to visit my mother and took the most expensive sweets. Why, mom constantly saves money and buys caramels.” The taxi driver's earnings for Elusive are low, but life is calmer. The new wife is also keeping an eye on this: “Married!” is written on the mirror in the car’s interior in pink lipstick. “Jealous,” he grins.

The volume of today's black market is a mystery: the police do not count, but CITES (Convention on international trade endangered species of wild fauna) estimates it at 200 tons. However, market participants claim that the figure is much lower: approximately 25% of total sales. Consultant of the agribusiness practice of the NEO Center Consulting Group Andrey Zhikharev agrees with them.

The retail price of black caviar is growing along with the dollar, now it is 30,000-70,000 rubles per kilogram, depending on the extraction method: “slaughter” costs more, “milk” costs less. The most expensive is beluga caviar - 90,000-150,000 rubles/kg, and sterlet caviar is 30% cheaper than sturgeon.

"Inexpensive idea"

The founder of Aquatrade Fishing Company LLC, Astrakhan resident Alexey Sokolov, sold this business two years after the start. Coming from the oilfield services company Schlumberger, Sokolov and five partners registered the company in 2002. A year later, on the Bushma River near the village of the same name in the Astrakhan region, he built six fish cages with total area 150 sq. m. Having bought the first 500 kg of fry, Sokolov realized that the money had run out, and the expenses had just begun, he began to look for buyers for the asset and remembered his friend Igor Bukatov.

Bukatov and his business partner Anton Fedin were only on vacation in Astrakhan in the 2000s: they made money then by selling coking coal from Yakutia and Kuzbass; among their clients were the Federal Border Service and the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant (NLMK). The price of a promising business producing sturgeon and black caviar seemed low to them.

The first investments amounted to several million rubles. “Essentially, we bought an idea inexpensively that the creators didn’t have enough money for, thinking that it would pay off in three years,” says Fedin. At the end of 2003, he and his partner became owners of about 8% of the shares of Aquatrade between them; by mid-2005, each of them increased their share to 39.2%. Now Bukatov and Fedin have 47.4% each, and their friend Elena Pereverzeva has another 5.1%.

Sturgeons by Vladimir Lisin

The new owners of Aquatrade did not immediately realize the real price of the “inexpensive idea”. “Why are there four cages - it’s like an aquarium at the dacha! But this aquarium began to eat up a lot of money: we hadn’t sold anything yet, but we were already transferring 350-400,000 rubles a month towards salaries,” recalls Anton Fedin. Now the average salary for fishery specialists in the Astrakhan region is 12,000-15,000 per month, the minimum is from 6,000.

The next revelation for the owners of Aquatrade was the need to scale production. In 2003, the farm had 2 tons of fish. But based on the results of calculations, Fedin recalls, it turned out that for a normal business it is necessary to produce 100-150 tons, “then we will at least start earning something.”

Where can you get so many sturgeon? “Vladimir Lisin’s broodstock helped,” says Igor Bukatov. According to him, in 2003-2004, NLMK sold non-core assets, including three sturgeon production plants. “The sturgeon were about twenty kilograms, good,” recalls Bukatov. – They were transported to some kind of cardboard factory, the fish were sitting in cages 2 by 2 m, sad, scary to look at. We bought 21 kilograms of fish for 400, they became the basis of our herd.” The cost of live female sturgeon now depends on their species and age - from 10,000 rubles per kilogram.

NLMK's fish hatchery was indeed considered one of the largest industrial enterprises - by the way, the plant was a leader among metallurgists in fish production. NLMK's annual report for 2003 mentions CJSC Stalkonverst, which is engaged in fish breeding, processing and sales - NLMK had 36.8% there. In documents for 2004, the company is no longer on the list of affiliates.

The billionaire, who, without knowing it, took part in the fate of the Astrakhan company, recently received a present from it: “Lisin came to the Astrakhan region to hunt, and we found out about it and gave him a jar of caviar,” says Igor Bukatov.

Fish food

The owners of sturgeon farms do not look like tycoons at all. Petr Sabanchuk, deputy general director and co-owner of the fish trading company Raskat (ranked seven in terms of production volumes in the Russian Federation), looks more like an ordinary hard worker than a businessman: a large man of about 60 years old driving a Renault Logan with an impressive crack on the windshield. He talks confidently and almost lovingly about the intricacies of fish production:

“Beluga matures like a girl: she doesn’t show up until she’s 16, and then you give her away in marriage.”

The beluga is really ready for spawning at 15-18 years old. Sturgeon begins to produce caviar only at seven or eight years old, sterlet at 4-6 years. Until three years of age, even the sex of the fish is unclear, which is determined very humanly: by ultrasound.

“Five years after the start, Aquatrade took its first right step in business,” Anton Fedin argues self-critically, “he stopped selling all the fish, starting to separate the males from the females.” By that time, the 170-ton sturgeon herd had already been divided into caviar and commercial sturgeon - the latter contained only male sturgeon for meat.

Until 2013, Aquatrade was the leader in the sale of sturgeon meat in the south of Russia, says the company’s commercial director Sergei Bessonov: the company sold 40-50 tons per year (now 20-30 tons per year). All the money was literally eaten up by the farm: feeding sturgeon is an expensive pleasure.

The fry are generally fed like children: every two hours. For a kilogram of fry - a kilogram of feed, which is bought in Europe. “If you need to raise 1 kg of fry, you need to spend 400 rubles on food. 50% of this fry will die in the process, but it will eat the food. That is, 1 kg of fish already costs 800 rubles,” Igor Bukatov makes a simple calculation. He sold three apartments in Moscow to feed Aquatrade's growing herd. Now this herd reaches 260 tons and eats feed worth 60 million rubles per year.

Food for adult animals is already cheaper - “Raskat”, for example, buys them for 95 rubles per 1 kg. It is believed that during the season (summer) a six-year-old sturgeon gains 6-8 kg, says Olga Sabanchuk, general director of Raskat. For 1 kg of “gain” you need 3 kg of feed, which means that a season of feeding one fish like this costs 1,700-2,500 rubles. 1 kg of sturgeon in a store can be bought for 700-850 rubles.

“It was a great happiness for us that we only need to feed the fish in the warm season: in winter, sturgeon lie on the bottom and don’t need food,” says Anton Fedin. True, the owners of Aquatrade did not find out this right away. The workers argued that in winter they needed to dig holes in the cages for feeding, says Fedin. “Maybe it was more convenient for them to catch fish from us - we realized that later. But at some point I started experimenting at my dacha: it was minus 20 outside, we dug a hole, and after 15 minutes there was this layer of ice. And I began to think: “Why the hell does Aquatrade allocate money for holes?”

According to IFD Solid analyst Dmitry Lukashov, the cost of black caviar is about $350-400 per kg. Now, 14 years after the start of the business, 80% of Aquatrade’s profit is spent on salaries, infrastructure support, consumables and food, says Bukatov. Sergey Bessonov claims that the first revenue in this business comes after 10 years; investments, taking into account the cost of money over time, pay off after 12-15 years. Margins of 100% begin with 20 years of operation of the caviar herd, he expects.

“Don’t even try to start this business with less than 100-150 million rubles,” warns Bukatov. But the owner of the Russian Caviar Lux caviar distributor, Victor Kappes, who has been involved in the caviar business for about 30 years, estimates investments in cage farming for a hundred-ton sturgeon herd at $1 million, but makes a reservation: “It all depends on the volume: someone breeds sturgeon in a barrel "

“Do it beautifully!”

The initial investments of poachers are of a completely different order: “at a minimum: gear - about 50 pieces, a boat - about 50,000 rubles, a motor “thirty” (boat engine of 30 hp, - Forbes) - it costs 170,000-200,000 rubles .”, lists the ex-poacher “Elusive”.

This calculation is for single people: you won’t catch a lot of fish, but if you get caught by law enforcement officers, you won’t go to jail for long. The classification of crimes depends not on the damage and volume, but on the method of commission: if you break the law alone, the punishment will be less severe than if in a group of people. “You can eat the fish you catch and sell the caviar in the village without taking any risks - hucksters buy for 20,000 rubles. per kg,” explains the interlocutor. “At least 3-4 kg of caviar from sturgeon - that’s 80,000 rubles.”

Earnings are higher if you poach “for the owner” - a person with more serious equipment and connections - and constantly work in the Caspian Sea. You can’t just get into the sea, says a law enforcement officer who participated in catching poachers: you have to pay for entry and exit, “like in our hospitals: give it for the operation and give it to the anesthesiologist so that he can survive the anesthesia.” Usually three people go out on a boat: a driver and two fishermen. They work on a percentage basis. A successful solution is, for example, three large belugas - 50-70 kg of caviar. Such caviar costs on the black market from 30,000 rubles per kg. Then the fishermen receive 300-400,000 rubles “on the nose” from the owner.

The number of detected cases of poaching in Astrakhan has not changed over the past five years - about a thousand per year. 76 major crimes were solved in 2015, this is a third of all Russia, says Colonel Mikhail Shevyakov.

How are poachers caught? “If you go out to the Caspian Sea by boat, there will, of course, be canoes and people in them with machine guns, but by the time you get to them, there will be no machine guns, no cartridges, no fish in the boat, and even the mucus will be washed away,” Shevyakov assures . They go out to sea to find poachers at night, following a tip, knowing in advance where they will bring the caught fish to sell. A couple of times a season, shooting happens during a chase; more often they shoot from boats arriving from neighboring Dagestan, says Artem Sladkov, an employee of the press service of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Astrakhan Region: “We shoot at the boat, at the engine. But last year we had to shoot at a man - he was firing at us with a Kalashnikov. Then he threw him into the water and claimed that there was no shooting. True, his phone was confiscated, where there was a video of the chase and shootout with behind-the-scenes comments: “Come on Vasya, make the cops look good!”

Caviar and sturgeon, which ended up from poachers' boats on the black market, are stored in refrigerators in garages, summer cottages and abandoned industrial sites. Although there are more exotic places: caviar was buried in the garden and tomatoes were planted on top, recalls Mikhail Shevyakov. He tells terrible things about the methods of poaching: supposedly, caviar is dried in the sun on cardboard, and then filled with water to swell.

The illegal delicacy goes for sale under the skin of a car, in the walls of truck bodies, in the hiding places of familiar train conductors.

“No one transports trucks: firstly, such volumes no longer exist in nature, and secondly, caviar is not butter, not everyone can afford it,” explains Shevyakov.

Delicacy wholesale and retail

InFOLIO Research Group calculated in 2012 that 1% of the Russian population can afford to eat caviar regularly. On holidays - 4%. Who are these people?

Russian caviar

For the last two years, the export of black caviar from Russia has been at the level of 6.7 tons, they say in Rosrybolovstvo. In 2001, when fishing for Russian sturgeon and seryuga in the Caspian Sea was still allowed, 41 tons went abroad. It is profitable to supply abroad: the price for 1 kg of caviar varies from $1,000 to €2,000. However, it is not easy: we have no agreement with Europe in the field of product standardization, so this market is closed for Russian aquaculture caviar. The main buyers of Russian caviar are the UAE, Canada, Singapore, China, the USA and Japan; there are supplies to Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Moscow eats the most caviar. The capital and region account for 70% of sales, says Alexander Ganusov, general director of the Russian Sturgeon trading house (products of the Yaroslavsky fish hatchery, No. 2 in terms of production volume in Russia - 10 tons, according to the company). The regions eat up the remaining 30%.

The largest producer of black caviar in Russia, Diana (supplier Russian Caviar House), lists such companies as Gazprom, Rosneft, and Sberbank among its clients. The employees, hearing about this, get scared: “Well, I don’t know, we don’t eat anything like that, we don’t see caviar in our canteen.” In response to a request from Forbes, a representative of Sberbank replied that “the bank is not a corporate customer of black caviar,” and representatives of Rosneft and Gazprom declined to comment.

Judging by the government procurement website, almost no one eats black caviar in state-owned companies.

Forbes was able to discover a tender for the purchase of caviar only by Gazprom’s subsidiary, Gazprom Torgservis LLC. According to the minutes of the request for proposals published on August 3, 2015, the lot for the supply of caviar produced by Russian Caviar House LLC in the amount of 2.3 million rubles was predictably won by Russian Caviar House.

“Retail clients are very closed,” Bessonov from Aquatrade shakes his head. “Sometimes they even make a purchase not in their name.”

Caviar for the President

“No one who actually supplies caviar to the Kremlin will talk about this,” assures Igor Bukatov from Aquatrade. Ganusov from Russian Sturgeon admits that there are interesting clients in the Kremlin, but he simply doesn’t know “from which side to approach this.” “Although the “children of Lieutenant Schmidt” come regularly, boast about their administrative resources, and offer to introduce them. However, not a single such proposal has been successful,” he says. “Knowing our officials, I’ll assume that they are used to receiving caviar as a gift,” smiles another supplier.

Almost all the producers we were able to talk to tried to start supplying caviar to authorities. Only one company claims that this happened - Russian Caviar House, owned by entrepreneur Alexander Novikov. On the company’s website, visitors are greeted with the slogan: “Black caviar from the Kremlin’s supplier.” “We are suppliers to the State Duma and the Federation Council. We have very serious customers, (...) they did not order less,” TASS quoted Saodat Sultanova, deputy general director of the company, as saying in early May.

On February 19, 2015, a supply agreement was indeed concluded between Novikov’s Russian Caviar House and the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Kremlevsky Food Plant” (Forbes found information about this posted on the government procurement website). According to the documents, Novikov’s company was supposed to supply 15 cans of black grainy sturgeon caviar “Classic” for a total amount of 103,380 rubles (2,316 rubles for 50 grams and 4,576 rubles for 100 g - quite market prices). The agreement was valid until the end of last year. It was not possible to find any other agreements.

Novikov himself did not find time in three weeks to answer questions about the “Kremlin” and “State Duma” buyers. The Kremlevsky Trade House did not respond to Forbes’ request. Deputy General Director of the Kremlevsky food processing plant, Vladimir Polishchuk, also left Forbes’ questions sent to him via Linkedin unanswered.

Hunting for a client

“Black caviar is still considered an elite product, but this is prejudice Russian man, says Alexander Ganusov. “The price of 4,000 rubles per 100 grams is comparable to the price of a bottle of good whiskey, and with these hundred grams you can treat 15 people, and if you make canapes, even more.”

Caviar is really going to the masses: according to the observations of a senior administrator of a retail outlet, “ gold fish» Vladimir Zhupinsky’s Danilovsky market, one of the main motives for buying a delicacy from Muscovites is sports nutrition: caviar contains a lot of easily digestible fats and proteins with high biological value. The second is celebrations like New Year, anniversary or wedding. “Last year in December we sold about 100 kg of black caviar, while in the summer about 10-15 kg are sold per month,” he says. According to him, caviar is also in demand among foreigners, for whom it is one of the symbols of Russian gastronomy and a good souvenir: they account for about 20% of buyers.

60% of the products from Russian Sturgeon are sold in ten metropolitan retail chains. They take caviar, despite markups: the consumer pays a retail markup (up to 50% of the cost of the product), and the supplier pays “input” - a fixed amount for each item (in the case of caviar, these are the volumes of cans) and “bonus money” - 10- 15% of the delivery price, says Ganusov. About 15% of deliveries to retail chains go for disposal, since in the event of customer complaints about quality, stores simply return the goods to suppliers. “At the same time, I can complain that my product is on the display at the wrong temperature, but the category manager will simply answer: “It’s more convenient for us,” says Ganusov. According to him, supply costs are recovered only in the third year of operation.

The next largest wholesalers (wholesale starts from 5 kg) are restaurants and resellers, they account for 15% of sales, says Ganusov. “I wouldn’t say that the restaurant public especially highlights caviar on the menu, but there are connoisseurs, especially among foreigners, for whom it is a completely obvious pairing with sparkling wine,” notes the famous restaurateur Nikolai Bakunov. “It shows wealth and upbringing.” The menu of his restaurants includes, for example, such dishes with caviar as “Nanny from guinea fowl”, “Hake with eggplant and black caviar”, “Sterlet with kaymak with black caviar”.

Restaurants are capricious clients: chefs have different tastes, but the market is moving towards competing not on products, but on service, says Maxim Mikhailets, managing partner of the Caspian Gold brand. The Rzhev Sturgeon Complex, which represents the brand, slaughters fish and salts caviar to customers’ orders, varying the percentage of salt, maturation time and preservative. “There is an option for aged caviar - it is stored in a special jar for six months, oxidizing a little - this is what the French like, for example,” says Mikhailets. “And the Russian consumer prefers fresh.” “Good caviar has a fresh, buttery taste, with a distinct hint of pure saltiness.” sea ​​water“, restaurateur Bakunov describes the desired product.

“Back in 2012, when I opened my company, you could take a buyer with your bare hands, there were no sellers on the market,” says Victor Kappes from Russian Caviar Lux nostalgically. Nowadays you can’t go to a client with your bare hands. Sellers divide buyers into those who understand the product and those who don’t: the latter care about the low price, and the picky ones care about the approach, says Bessonov: “They call at the same time every year and say: “I need 5 kg of caviar for the holiday.” at 2 a.m. at such and such an address.” And try not to bring it. This is our buyer."

Has the crisis affected the caviar market? “Very,” admits the category manager of the “Fish and Seafood” direction at Moscow’s La maree, Sergei Skripnik: due to falling sales of his reseller company “Caviar Empire,” he returned to the restaurant as an employee. “At the peak of sales, in November-December 2013, we sold 400 kg of caviar, and exactly a year later - ten times less,” he explains. Now, according to Skripnik, his company’s sales are at 15-20 kg per month.

However, there are those who do not skimp on caviar. Bukatov from Aquatrade spoke about a client who recently ordered sturgeon to Lipetsk with delivery to the river bank: there was a family holiday, they wanted to make five-minute caviar. The purchase cost 123,000 rubles. But the children at the holiday felt sorry for the fish and had to be pardoned. After taking a souvenir photo, the captive-bred sturgeon was released into the river and let him swim. Sturgeon is now a pleasure, although expensive, but legal. You can buy more.

Irina Kamshilina

Cooking for someone is much more pleasant than cooking for yourself))

Content

Sturgeon eggs (caviar) are highly valued on the world market; in most countries they are classified as “elite” products. Black caviar can be pressed or granular; consuming this product is useful in any form. A rich supply of vitamins and amino acids has a positive effect on human health. The main place of production is the Caspian Sea, as well as the Danube, the Amur region and the Sea of ​​Azov.

What is black caviar

Caviar (another name for the product) are fish eggs that are eaten. There are six stages of their maturity, but granular eggs of the fourth stage go on sale. According to the manufacturing method, the following types of product are distinguished:

1. Grainy can and barrel. Does not require pasteurization, consists of whole grains that are easily separated from each other.
2. Pressed. It is made in a salt solution, stirring constantly. Ready eggs must be pressed.
3. Yastychnaya. Preparation occurs by strong salting, without separating the grain from the connective tissue.

Which fish has black caviar

Beluga, sturgeon, sterlet, bester are fish that supply caviar. Beluga is considered one of the most valuable and expensive. About 25% of its weight comes from eggs. This type has a thin shell and the largest grains. The sturgeon delicacy has a dark brown or golden color, large size, exuding a subtle aroma of the sea. Sterlet is a small fish with black caviar, whose eggs are dark gray in color and have an exquisite taste.

Compound

The benefits of black caviar are undeniable for the human body. Its use is recommended for both adults and children. The product can be eaten for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and for people on a diet. Saturated fatty acids, vitamins and microelements contained in this delicacy strengthen the body and give energy. Percentage useful substances in the product is presented in the table.

Substance name	Quantity
Vitamin A, Retinol
Vitamin B1, Thiamine
Vitamin B2, Riboflavin
Vitamin B5, Pantothenic acid
Vitamin B6, Pyridoxine
Vitamin B9, Folate:
Natural folates
Folate DEF
Vitamin B12, Cobalamin:
Vitamin PP, NE
Vitamin PP, Niacin
Lutein + Zeaxanthin
Vitamin D, IU:
Vitamin D3 cholecalciferol
Vitamin E, alpha Tocopherol:
Vitamin K
Vitamin B4, Choline
Calcium, Ca
Magnesium, Mg
Sodium, Na
Iron, Fe
Manganese, Mn

Calorie content

The delicacy is rich in protein and healthy fat. The product has no “empty” calories, so it is recommended to be consumed on a diet. The calorie content of caviar without additives is 200-250 kcal per 100 g. When added vegetable oil energy value can grow up to 400 kcal. 100 g of fish eggs contains:

• proteins – 24.6 g;
• fat – 17.9 g;
• carbohydrates – 4 g;
• water – 47.5 g.

What are the benefits of black caviar?

It has long been considered one of the most nutritious and balanced foods. Caviar contains almost all the substances necessary for development human body. This is a general tonic that has a positive effect on brain function, improves blood circulation and reduces the risk of blood clots. Caviar is useful for atherosclerosis and urolithiasis. The product improves memory, increases hemoglobin, and stimulates the removal of excess fluid from the body.

For women

The composition of sturgeon eggs is highly valued by cosmetics manufacturers. The delicacy improves complexion, stimulates regenerative processes, accelerates wound healing, makes the skin more elastic, fights signs of aging and gives a healthy appearance. Caviar actively use such famous brands:

• Diademin;
• Ingrid millet;
• La Prairie;
• Mirra Lux;
• Ash;
• Penovia botanica.

A very useful delicacy for pregnant women. Omega-3 and omega-6 support the body. While pregnant, women often experience iron deficiency anemia and calcium deficiency, so doctors recommend including caviar in your diet. The product increases hemoglobin, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reduces swelling. The magnesium it contains helps with cramps, and folic acid stabilizes bleeding, stimulates the normal development of tissues and organs of the baby.

For men

The delicacy contains a large number of arginine, an amino acid that has a positive effect on male potency. Its constant use can rejuvenate and make the body healthier. Caviar should be included in the daily diet of men who work physically and have problems with the digestive system.

For children

Real black caviar can be given to children from the age of three. The product is necessary for the growing body as a source of vitamins and minerals. Calcium promotes the normal development of the child's bones, and magnesium prevents the occurrence of seizures. Thanks to ascorbic acid, the product improves immunity and has a positive effect on children's vision. The delicacy improves mental activity, which is especially useful for young schoolchildren.

Harm and contraindications

However, given all the positive aspects of consuming caviar, you cannot consume it in unlimited quantities. Eggs contain a large amount of salt, which can disrupt the water-salt balance of the body and kidney function. The product is best used in pure form, since preservatives and other chemical additives can harm the body. Chronic kidney disease and individual intolerance are the reason for the ban on eating sturgeon eggs.

Price for black caviar

The price may vary depending on the type, method of preparation and region of sale of the delicacy. The cost of the product in Astrakhan and St. Petersburg will differ by several rubles. In Moscow, caviar can be ordered online or purchased in grocery stores. When purchasing, keep an eye on the production date and the quality of the canned food packaging. Poor quality products can be harmful to your health. If you are interested in how much black caviar costs, look at the table below.

How to choose black caviar

For a long time, sturgeon eggs were mined in the Caspian Sea. Aquaculture enterprises have now been created that grow fish to produce black caviar. This reduces the load on the ecosystem and avoids killing fish. Give preference to Astrakhan, Vologda and Volgorechensk producers. High-quality grains should be whole, uniform in size, silver-black or gray-brown in color.

The product should have an almost imperceptible odor. The best caviar has a rich taste with hints of nuts. There should be only a slight bitterness present. Sturgeon eggs are sold in glass and tin jars. To assess the quality of a delicacy in a glass container, look at the type of grains. To check the quality of the product in tin can, shake it. If the eggs are “dangling”, put the jar back in place. The product must be certified and have a CITES permit.

Black caviar is considered one of the most nutritious and balanced foods, as well as a world-famous symbol of luxury. However, consumption of black caviar can hardly be called environmentally responsible. Poaching, river damming and pollution aquatic environment led to a sharp decrease in the sturgeon population.

Until 1991, Russia was a key player in the world in sturgeon fishing and export of caviar products. IN best years our country caught up to 28 thousand tons of sturgeon fish for domestic needs and produced up to 2-2.8 thousand tons of caviar. At the same time, the world export market for this product exceeded 570 tons per year. The Caspian Sea produced 90 percent of all caviar exported, of which on average stellate sturgeon caviar accounted for 50.6%, Russian sturgeon caviar - 38.5% and beluga caviar - 9.9%.

At the end of the 20th century, caviar smuggling in the world reached unprecedented levels. In this regard, the UN Committee on International Trade in Endangered Species has limited sturgeon fishing and the export of black caviar to Russia and all Caspian countries of the former USSR. The only state in this region that was not affected by the ban was Iran.

From wildlife Black caviar is not legally mined. The ban was introduced in 2007 and supported by the five Caspian states that are located around the Caspian Sea, the world's main sturgeon habitat. The center of illegal production of black caviar has moved from the Astrakhan lower reaches of the Volga to the Khabarovsk lower reaches of the Amur.

After the introduction of a ban on sturgeon fishing in France, Germany, Italy, USA, Canada, China, Uruguay, Spain, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and other countries, more than 140 farms have been created to breed sturgeon fish in order to obtain edible caviar from it.

World producers of black caviar: Iran - 60 tons, USA - 50 tons, France - 30 tons, Italy - 26 tons, Germany - 15 tons, Latin America - 15 tons, Israel - 7, Spain - 5 tons. In China, according to Rosselkhoznadzor, 136 enterprises are accredited and have the right to supply sturgeon species and their caviar to the Russian Federation. Experts estimate the total production of black caviar in China at 80-100 tons, mostly low-quality products. At the same time, there is also high-quality caviar in China - for example, the product of the Kaluga Queen company is bought by the best restaurants in the world. The company's products were presented to heads of state at the G20 summit in China in 2016.

Today, the legal turnover of black caviar on the global foreign market is approximately 350-450 tons per year, while its capacity continues to be estimated by experts at 1000 tons per year.

Observations of the Russian caviar market show that the domestic market has fallen from 420 tons to 170 tons of illegal caviar over the past six years. This trend confirms the presence of serious problems with the sturgeon stock in the Caspian Sea. Also, caviar from Siberian regions And Far East. A number of companies operating long time with smuggling, they began to leave the shadow area for legal business. This situation can be characterized as stagnation for the illegal trade in black caviar. Gradually, caviar from various countries world, which confirms the trend of movement of this sector into a legal channel and a large capacity for this product in Russia.

According to experts, as a result of a significant reduction (2.5 times) in the volume of illegally mined black caviar, the capacity of the domestic market decreased from 430.1 tons in 2010 to 224.3 tons in 2016. Despite the fact that aquaculture production of black caviar has shown significant growth over the past 6 years (3.3 times), it is not enough to compensate for the shrinking market.

In the Russian Federation, the production of black caviar has increased over the past 6 years from 13.1 tons in 2010 to 44 tons in 2016. Imports in 2016 amounted to 7.5 tons, including supplies of black caviar from China amounted to 5.5 tons. Compared to 2015, supplies from China increased 3 times from 1.8 tons to 5.5 tons. Exports in 2016 amounted to 7.2 tons.

Black caviar has become noticeably cheaper over the past five years. Its price grew sharply in the 1990s and early 2000s due to the mass extermination of several species: in just four years, from 1992 to 1995, the sturgeon population decreased fourfold, from 200 million to 50 million pieces, then the price of caviar increased 20 times. In 2010, prices in Russia reached their maximum - sturgeon caviar cost 100-120 thousand rubles. for 1 kg. However, since then the decline began: in 2012, caviar cost about 80-90 thousand rubles, and now - from 40 thousand rubles. (milk sturgeon) up to 70 thousand rubles. (slaughter beluga).

Two cans of black caviar out of three on the Russian market are of Chinese origin. This opinion is shared former employee Federal Fisheries Agency Alexander Savelyev and President of the Union of Sturgeon Breeders of the Russian Federation Alexander Novikov. Rosselkhoznadzor thinks differently. How much Chinese black caviar is actually on domestic shelves and how can Russians find a quality product for New Year's table, understood “360”.

Scale of disaster

Ex-manager

Center for Public Relations of the Federal Fisheries Agency, Alexander Savelyev told “360” about the dominance of Chinese black caviar on the Russian market. According to the expert, two out of three cans contain caviar from the Middle Kingdom, regardless of what is written on the packaging. Most black caviar comes to us illegally and is packaged in jars labeled “Made in Russia,” although some enterprises import it completely legally. According to Savelyev, employees of the Federal Security Service estimate the black market for such caviar in Russia at one and a half billion dollars.

Photo: RIA Novosti / Sergey Malgavko

In China, a kilogram of black caviar can be bought for eight dollars (about 500 rubles). This price is explained by savings on production. Chinese producers raise sturgeon in less than ideal conditions and provide the fish with cheap food containing antibiotics and growth hormones. However, it cannot be said that there is no high-quality black caviar in China at all. For example, the Kaluga Queen enterprise produces a good product on a huge scale - about 60 tons per year. In general, China produces about two thousand tons of the delicacy annually. For comparison, all Russian enterprises produce only 40–45 tons of black caviar per year.

In principle, Russian sturgeon farms have no chance of competing with them. In more northern latitudes, growing sturgeon is completely unprofitable. Moreover, with an average retail price on the Russian market of 35–45 thousand rubles, buying it in China for 8–10 thousand is much more profitable. Chinese black caviar not only killed sturgeon production in Russia, it even undermined poaching. There is no point in doing it, because it is easier and much more profitable to buy in China, bring here and sell. There are a huge number of offers on the Internet for the sale of jars for black caviar. The question arises - why are they selling so many of them?

Alexander Savelyev.

A former employee of the Federal Fisheries Agency named the ways in which interested parties continue to make a killing in the sale of illegal black caviar from China. From September 1, 2017, technical regulations on the safety of fish and fish products were to come into effect in Russia. The document was supposed to help ordinary consumers find out what kind of product they were buying, where it was obtained and when exactly. However, the regulation never came into effect. From January 1, the country planned to begin electronic veterinary certification of fish products, however, this project has not yet been implemented.

Speculators, in particular greedy traders from the Fishing Union, lobbied and delayed the entry into force of this veterinary certification for another six months. Thus, those who are engaged in this extremely profitable business have another six months to feel very at ease. They can pass taxes and fees past the state, but the state has nothing to do with it. And the buyer with this product acquires the risk of becoming infected with at least E. coli

Alexander Savelyev.

Rosselkhoznadzor specialists did not agree with the expert. The agency published a refutation of Savelyev’s position and stated that the total volume of Chinese caviar in Russia does not exceed 25% of total imports. This figure decreased in 2017 compared to the previous year by 30%. Only Last year 5.7 tons of black caviar were brought to Russia, which was carefully checked for compliance with various

veterinary and sanitary

standards Savelyev is sure that with the publication the department only emphasizes the scale of the disaster.

"Pure deception"

The President of the Union of Sturgeon Breeders of Russia, Alexander Novikov, sided with Savelyev. He explained that it is extremely profitable to buy it illegally from China and resell it in Russia under the guise of domestic products. According to the contract, good black caviar is sold in the Middle Kingdom for $180–200 per kilogram. For cash, a kilogram can be bought for 50–80 dollars.

It gets into Russia across the border with China very easily. Then it comes to large cities, including Moscow. Paradoxically, the lion's share goes to Astrakhan, where it is repackaged by Astrakhan producers into Russian banks and passed off as their own. You can be sure that if you take three jars that say “Produced in Astrakhan”, two will contain Chinese caviar

Alexander Novikov.

Rosselkhoznadzor has issued permission to supply black caviar to Russia to about 150 Chinese enterprises, and the quality of the products of most of them leaves much to be desired. In addition to cheap feed, this is influenced by the difficult environmental situation - the fish live in not the cleanest environment.

Because of this, the Chinese themselves do not buy fish products in the Middle Kingdom. At the same time, China produces about 50% of all aquaculture products in the world, but due to quality, practically does not export it to other countries. It is mainly bought in other Asian countries.

It is almost impossible to find out for sure what kind of black caviar is in the jar without laboratory tests. Novikov shared one way to recognize low-quality caviar. To do this, the consumer must turn the glass jar upside down and shake it slightly. If caviar begins to hang out in brine, a special brine, then it can safely be called low-quality. Most likely, all Chinese caviar will be like this. Novikov also advised not to buy Astrakhan caviar, which is mostly fake.

Our producers, of course, will suffer greatly from this. I am not against Chinese caviar, even if it is sold on the market, but it should be written there that it is caviar from China, and it should cost other money. You may laugh, but I think this is caviar for the poor. All this is pure deception, and, unfortunately, our state does not punish those people who do this

Alexander Novikov.