Journal of
Applied Ichthyology
J. Appl. Ichthyol. 30 (2014), 1536–1546
© 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH
ISSN 0175–8659
Present and future sturgeon and caviar production and marketing: A global market
overview
By P. Bronzi1 and H. Rosenthal2
1
World Sturgeon Conservation Society (WSCS), Vedano al Lambro, Italy; 2WSCS, Home Office, Neu Wulmstorf, Germany
Summary
Continuous drastic declines in natural sturgeon populations
over the past 30 years plus a high market demand for cav-
iar have led the way for sturgeon farming, mainly for the
production of caviar. Russia, Iran, members of the Euro-
pean Union, China and the USA were among the first;
however, for the very same reasons countries outside the
natural range of sturgeons also became involved (e.g. Uru-
guay, Arabian countries, Israel, and more recently Viet-
nam). At present (2012), the total caviar output from
aquaculture is estimated at 260 tonnes, a production that
could increase to 500–750 t within the next 10 years. If
these figures are realistic, the future of caviar trade will be
determined mainly by demand-driven price structures, with
the appearance of a new and evolving ‘mass market’ in
addition to the traditional luxury high-priced market. Other
issues are the uncertainties and opportunities in the market
place. All of these issues indicate that this relatively new
branch of the aquaculture industry faces similar growing
pains as in previous developments (e.g. salmon farming) but
within a shorter time frame. The same drive that gave the
incentive to farm sturgeons also provided, since the early
1970s, the incentives to seek alternative products that could
fill the void in caviar supplies and even create new market
sectors. The various products currently found on the market
have been divided into six categories: (a) true caviar (using
eggs from sturgeons); (b) substitute caviar (eggs derived
from other fish species or from other animals); (c) imitation
caviar (caviar-like products constructed from other biologi-
cal substances, imitating caviar in appearance and taste); (d)
simulated caviar (produced by other biological substances
to simulate only the taste of caviar, but not the appear-
ance); (e) derivates (products that contain true caviar as a
recipe component); (f) products with emotional associations
to caviar (not related to caviar at all, but use the name as
a marketing strategy to evoke a luxury image and infer a
high value). At present, the eggs of more than 38 species of
fish, besides sturgeons, and three species of other animals
are used to produce substitutes. About 15 ‘caviar-like’ prep-
arations are used as raw materials – such as fish flesh, sea-
weed, and others mixtures. Five products can be considered
simulations; few use caviar as a component in their produc-
tion recipes. A variety of objects (unrelated to caviar) are
currently marketed, but use ‘caviar’ in their trademark.
U.S. Copyright Clearance Centre Code Statement: 0175-8659/2014/3006–1536$15.00/0
Received: August 15, 2014
Accepted: October 6, 2014
doi: 10.1111/jai.12628
Introduction
Within the past 30 years the over-exploitation of natural
sturgeon stocks for caviar production along with serious
river fragmentation and habitat deterioration have led to
drastic population declines. As a consequence, in 1997 the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
listed all commercially utilised sturgeon species world-wide
in Annex II of the CITES regulations, thus requiring inter-
nationally agreed trade quotas to promulgate the protection
of these highly endangered species. Nevertheless, the 2009
Wuhan IUCN reassessment of the Acipenseriformes (IUCN,
2013) status indicated that the conditions for almost all spe-
cies had worsened, with more than 44% of these species
classified as even more threatened than in the 1996 assess-
ment, estimating an 85% of threatened sturgeon species
(IUCN Red List). The Acipenseriformes have the highest
proportion of Critically Endangered species among all of
the most threatened animal orders (17 CR – critically
endangered; 2 EN – endangered; 4 VU – vulnerable; 2 NT
– near threatened; 2 LC – least concern).
Within two decades (1985–2005) several factors contributed
to the strong decline of the sturgeon fishery. Politically, the
collapse of the Soviet Union was accompanied by a dramatic
decline in the otherwise powerful enforcement measures con-
trolling this lucrative fishery; at the same time strong social
and economic consequences emboldened massive overfishing
and poaching. Furthermore, river fragmentation (damming)
as well as pollution exacerbated the environmental stress on
the dwindling populations. Additionally, previously extensive
stocking programmes were gradually reduced and, at present,
have plummeted to an all-time low.
During those years the worldwide demand for caviar con-
tinued to grow and supplies from fisheries were insufficient
to provide the requisite quantities.
The historic demand for caviar in traditional markets (e.g.
Europe, USA, Japan, plus Russia, China, etc.) can be assessed
based on the overall fishery data from the 1970s to the 1990s,
which seem to be fairly reliable (Fig. 1). These estimates
account for an amount of up to 3000 t of caviar annually.
Raymakers and Hoover (2002) also published an earlier
interim account of the caviar production and trade status.
As a consequence of the continuing high demand and the
perceived prospects for the caviar markets, many investors
became engaged in sturgeon farming so that the number of
sturgeon and caviar: A global market overview 1537

Fig. 1. Global sturgeon harvest

development, 1950–2011 (metric
tonnes, wet weight) from fisheries
(compiled from official statistics) and
from aquaculture (integrating official
statistics with additional recent
information from personal sources in
the industry and institutions)

Table 1
farms increased substantially during the past 30 years. This
Countries contributing to sturgeon fishery (25) and aquaculture (32)
trend still continues, while within the same time frame the production, 1950–2011
fishery declined even further and is now prohibited in most
countries. Needless to say that with this growing void, prices Fishery Aquaculture
for this rare commodity increased markedly. This has fos-
Azerbaijan Argentina
tered high expectations, with subsequent investments in sev- Bulgaria Armenia
eral countries mainly targeted toward caviar production. At Canada Austria
the beginning, this was mainly seen as a diversification strat- Denmark Azerbaijan
egy to add sturgeon to other farmed species, sometimes France Belarus
Georgia Belgium
merely with the intention to move toward a more profitable
Germany Bulgaria
species from those becoming less remunerative, such as trout Greece China
and eel. Hungary Cyprus
Main activities have been in Russia, and in countries of Iran, Islamic Rep. of Denmark
the European Union (Bronzi et al., 1999, 2011) such as Italy, Kazakhstan Estonia
Macedonia, Fmr Yug Rep of France
France, Germany, and Spain, but also in the USA and more The Netherlands Georgia
recently in China (Wei et al., 2011; Shen et al., 2014). Portugal Germany
Romania Hungary
Russian Federation Iran, Islamic Rep. of
Present sturgeon production scenario Serbia Israel
Slovakia Italy
Figure 1 shows the global sturgeon production (t) from fisher- Slovenia Latvia
ies during the period 1950 to 2011. The official data were taken Spain Lithuania
from FAO (2011–2014) statistics, while in the same figure we Turkey Poland
also include estimates from sturgeon aquaculture, an industry Turkmenistan Romania
Ukraine Russian Federation
that noticeably gained ground in the 1990s and grew strongly USA Saudi Arabia
during the last decade (Memis, 2014; Shen et al., 2014). USSR Slovenia
Countries contributing to the sturgeon fishery (FAO, Spain
2011–2014) and to the aquaculture (FAO statistics and per- Switzerland
Ukraine
sonal data) are listed in Table 1.
USA
At present the estimated production of sturgeon meat has USSR
reached yet another peak and is even higher than the high Uruguay
fishery yields of the 1970s. Our estimates account not only Vietnam
for the official statistics but also include additional data from
specific sources (e.g. scientists and farmers in the business).
Based on this information we infer a production level of In this rapid growth a key role is currently played by
about 51 500 t for the year 2011. Figure 1 shows the esti- China, which contributed more than 44 200 t in 2011 and is
mated trend, which probably represents a modest estimate equivalent to about 86% of the world sturgeon meat
since statistics from various countries remain incomplete. production.
However, the data represent fairly realistic trends in sturgeon Figure 2 presents the official but preliminary data from
meat production. FAO (FAO, 2011–2014) on caviar production as reported by
1540 P. Bronzi and H. Rosenthal

Table 2
Ranking by numbers of farms in countries involved in sturgeon
farming (compiled from various official and personal sources, valid
up to 2013)

No. of No. of
Country farms Country farms

Russian Federation 340 Kyrgyzstan 2

China 135 Moldova 2
Italy 25 Spain 3
USA 20 Turkey 2
France 10 Austria 1
Germany 10 Belgium 1
Romania 10 Czech Republic 1
Vietnam 9 Estonia 1
Belarus 8 Greece 1
Hungary 7 Israel 1
Poland 5 Lithuania 1
Ukraine 5 Laos 1
Armenia 4 Malaysia 1
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 4 Myanmar 1
Kazakhstan 4 The Netherlands 1
Uruguay 3 United Arab Emirates 1
Azerbaijan 3 Serbia 1
Canada 3 Switzerland 1
Latvia 3 Thailand 1
Bulgaria 2 Chile 1
Japan 2 Argentina 1
Korea 2 Total 640 Fig. 6. Estimated potential for 2016 caviar production (tonnes) in
countries where farms are currently in operation
in Table 2. Thus far, there are about 640 known sturgeon
farms.
It appears that the most important areas of sturgeon farm-
Caviar products, imitations and others
ing are clearly located in the areas of the natural distribution
of these species, mainly the Aral-Caspian region, involving The same drive that stimulated sturgeon farming and caviar
some of the five states surrounding the Caspian Sea, mainly production (e.g. high prices and market demands, together
Russia and several of the former Soviet Union states. Europe with the dramatic decline of natural sturgeon stocks and
follows with facilities in many of its states. The Far East coun- subsequent fishery restrictions), also provided the incentives
tries will becomes very important contributors to sturgeon to seek alternative products that could fill the void in caviar
production, while USA will have relatively few plants (+20), supplies. Additionally, innovative product developments
principally in the western states and in Florida. were initiated to meet the demand for caviar and create new,
additional market sectors while ‘hitchhiking’ on the tradi-
tional image of caviar. The diversification scenarios of
Production forecast so-called ‘caviar’ products currently on the market are some-
Based on the number of installations involved in sturgeon times misleading the consumers; we analysed these scenarios
rearing, the production of caviar is expected to increase and tried to obtain an overview of the variety in products
quickly to 500–750 t in the next years. This rough estimate that have appeared on the market. These are proliferous –
will be realised even if farms are not yet in operation or and have thus been divided into six major categories
are just shortly before beginning to reach planned capacity. (Table 3).
Many will still have fish in their facilities that require a
year or more to grow and reach maturity and are there- Table 3
fore not yet accounted for in the production. This holds A categorization attempt listing various products offered on global
for the new enterprises created in the traditional sturgeon markets, which include in one way or another the term ‘caviar’ on
their labels, along with definitions for these categories
countries as well as in new countries (e.g. Vietnam, Laos,
Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Portugal, Chile). A some- 1. CAVIAR: eggs from sturgeons only
what more accurate production prediction for the year 2. SUBSTITUTES: eggs from other fish species
2016 is presented in Fig. 6. These production forecast esti- eggs from other animal species
3. IMITATIONS: small balls reconstructed from other biological
mates are based on conservative data for traditional pro- substances imitating the appearance and taste of caviar
ducers who are already consolidated, on declared planned 4. SIMULATIONS: small balls produced from other biological
productions given by some countries and some companies, substances, simulating the taste of caviar only
as well as on mathematical extrapolations for some fast- 5. DERIVATES: products that contain some caviar
6. EMOTIONAL (marketing the caviar image): products that are
growing producers like China (linear growth over the last not absolutely caviar, edible or not edible
four years).
sturgeon and caviar: A global market overview
Fig. 4. Estimated caviar production (tonnes) per country as known
from statistics and communications with various sources up to the
end of 2012
Fig. 5. World locations of sturgeon farms and caviar processing plants compiled from various official and personal information sources,
reflecting the status as of summer 2013
1539
100–150 t, bringing the actual total caviar production on
the market to about 350–400 t.
Additional to these major producers, other entities in other
countries also appeared on the scene, producing sturgeons
outside the natural range. These new players are not only
contributing to the production, but are also having a sub-
stantial influence on the structure of the industry as well as
the structure and logistics of the markets. Notably are partic-
ipants from countries such as Uruguay, the Arabian coun-
tries, Israel, and more recently Argentina and Vietnam in
addition to other countries in the Far East.
To provide a more general – yet still incomplete – over-
view of the present world scenario on the distribution of the
sturgeon farms and caviar processing plants, we compiled a
point map (Fig. 5) in an attempt to identify and localize all
sturgeon-rearing farms. Certainly this can be no more than a
snapshot picture, as official data are not available in some
countries complicated by a highly dynamic development with
rapidly increasing farm numbers in some regions. Updating
information is therefore extremely difficult.
In Fig. 5 most placeholders are sited as to their geograph-
ical locations; however, for several countries we have only
the total number of facilities but not their precise locations.
For China, we point to only the most important sturgeon
farms; therefore densities in some areas are actually higher
than shown in the figure. A few of the data points in Fig. 5
are not readily visible because of the scale and their proxim-
ity to each other. The corresponding data are also reported
1540 P. Bronzi and H. Rosenthal

Table 2
Ranking by numbers of farms in countries involved in sturgeon
farming (compiled from various official and personal sources, valid
up to 2013)

No. of No. of
Country farms Country farms

Russian Federation 340 Kyrgyzstan 2

China 135 Moldova 2
Italy 25 Spain 3
USA 20 Turkey 2
France 10 Austria 1
Germany 10 Belgium 1
Romania 10 Czech Republic 1
Vietnam 9 Estonia 1
Belarus 8 Greece 1
Hungary 7 Israel 1
Poland 5 Lithuania 1
Ukraine 5 Laos 1
Armenia 4 Malaysia 1
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 4 Myanmar 1
Kazakhstan 4 The Netherlands 1
Uruguay 3 United Arab Emirates 1
Azerbaijan 3 Serbia 1
Canada 3 Switzerland 1
Latvia 3 Thailand 1
Bulgaria 2 Chile 1
Japan 2 Argentina 1
Korea 2 Total 640 Fig. 6. Estimated potential for 2016 caviar production (tonnes) in
countries where farms are currently in operation
in Table 2. Thus far, there are about 640 known sturgeon
farms.
It appears that the most important areas of sturgeon farm-
Caviar products, imitations and others
ing are clearly located in the areas of the natural distribution
of these species, mainly the Aral-Caspian region, involving The same drive that stimulated sturgeon farming and caviar
some of the five states surrounding the Caspian Sea, mainly production (e.g. high prices and market demands, together
Russia and several of the former Soviet Union states. Europe with the dramatic decline of natural sturgeon stocks and
follows with facilities in many of its states. The Far East coun- subsequent fishery restrictions), also provided the incentives
tries will becomes very important contributors to sturgeon to seek alternative products that could fill the void in caviar
production, while USA will have relatively few plants (+20), supplies. Additionally, innovative product developments
principally in the western states and in Florida. were initiated to meet the demand for caviar and create new,
additional market sectors while ‘hitchhiking’ on the tradi-
tional image of caviar. The diversification scenarios of
Production forecast so-called ‘caviar’ products currently on the market are some-
Based on the number of installations involved in sturgeon times misleading the consumers; we analysed these scenarios
rearing, the production of caviar is expected to increase and tried to obtain an overview of the variety in products
quickly to 500–750 t in the next years. This rough estimate that have appeared on the market. These are proliferous –
will be realised even if farms are not yet in operation or and have thus been divided into six major categories
are just shortly before beginning to reach planned capacity. (Table 3).
Many will still have fish in their facilities that require a
year or more to grow and reach maturity and are there- Table 3
fore not yet accounted for in the production. This holds A categorization attempt listing various products offered on global
for the new enterprises created in the traditional sturgeon markets, which include in one way or another the term ‘caviar’ on
their labels, along with definitions for these categories
countries as well as in new countries (e.g. Vietnam, Laos,
Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Portugal, Chile). A some- 1. CAVIAR: eggs from sturgeons only
what more accurate production prediction for the year 2. SUBSTITUTES: eggs from other fish species
2016 is presented in Fig. 6. These production forecast esti- eggs from other animal species
3. IMITATIONS: small balls reconstructed from other biological
mates are based on conservative data for traditional pro- substances imitating the appearance and taste of caviar
ducers who are already consolidated, on declared planned 4. SIMULATIONS: small balls produced from other biological
productions given by some countries and some companies, substances, simulating the taste of caviar only
as well as on mathematical extrapolations for some fast- 5. DERIVATES: products that contain some caviar
6. EMOTIONAL (marketing the caviar image): products that are
growing producers like China (linear growth over the last not absolutely caviar, edible or not edible
four years).
sturgeon and caviar: A global market overview
This analysis is based exclusively on products found dur-
ing an internet survey, with neither the intent to be exhaus-
tive nor to represent a statistical market evaluation, as there
are other publications offering statistical information. Fur-
thermore, the intent is neither to represent a judgment of the
quality of the different products, nor to express any prefer-
ence or comparison. This merely offers a scenario of what
the customer may find when confronted with market prod-
ucts labelled in some way, directly or indirectly, caviar.
The six categories listed in Table 3 can be described in
more detail as:
(1) Caviar: True caviar produced from eggs of sturgeons
belonging to the family of Acipenseridae, according to the
Codex Alimentarius (CD (Codex Alimentarius), 2010);
(2) Substitute caviar: Eggs from a great number of
other fish species from around the world. Sometimes
the products retain the natural colour of the roe, but
sometimes they are stained with various substances,
often to better imitate the appearance of true caviar.
Other substitutes consist of eggs of other animal species,
such as snails or sea urchins;
(3) Imitations of caviar: Caviar-like products derived from
various mixtures of other biological substances, e.g. fish
meat or any other suitable source of material, imitating
and/or reconstructing caviar in appearance and taste;
(4) Simulations of caviar: These include a large variety of
preparations derived from other biological substances
besides fish products, with the aim to simulate only the
taste but not necessarily the appearance of caviar.
These products can even be in the form of a paste or
spread;
(5) Derivates of caviar: Products that contain real caviar
as a component in their recipes and marketing strate-
gies but may have totally different appearances and
uses, targeting consumers who like the appeal and
image of the original product but are not necessarily
the conventional caviar consumers;
(6) Emotional (marketing the caviar image): These products
mostly add an emotional touch, but do not contain any
caviar. The name ‘caviar’ is incorporated as a market-
ing strategy to evoke a luxury image and infer a high
value regarding their product or service. These can be
edible as well as inedible products.
Caviar from sturgeon species
According to the Codex Alimentarius (CD (Codex Alimentari-
us), 2010), usage of the word ‘caviar’ can only be for processed
eggs derived from fish of the Acipenseridae family, and con-
sists of eggs, follicular or ovulated, treated with food grade salt
only. The label should not be misleading, and such terms as
Beluga, Osetra and Sevruga must be used, respectively, only
for Huso huso, A. gueldenstaedtii, A. persicus, and A. stellatus.
Ovulated caviar must be reported on the label.
At present we recognize caviar production from a total of
17 sturgeon species. Caviar is additionally derived from four
hybrids and two Polyodontidae species, which are not listed
under sturgeons in the Codex Alimentarius (Table 4).
1541
Caviar substitutes
Eggs from other fish species. The overall survey on caviar
substitutes indicates that more than 38 fish species are cur-
rently utilized; these are listed in Table 5. Sometimes these
eggs can be quite different from true caviar in colour and
dimension, such as trout or salmon eggs. In some cases, eggs
with diameters similar to those of true caviar are tinted black
to better resemble sturgeon caviar. One of the commonly
known species used for ‘caviar’ production in central and
northern Europe is the lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) (Johan-
nesson, 2006), also known since the end of World War II as
‘German Caviar’ but also sold in other markets.
Table 5 represent the most common commercial names
used for these products, several of which are correctly labelled
with the name ‘caviar’ accompanied by the name of the spe-
cies, e.g. ‘trout caviar’, ‘salmon caviar’ or ‘carp caviar’. In
some cases the label is not clear or ambiguous and the com-
mercial name is really misleading to consumers who cannot
quite comprehend the contents because they are not written
in English (e.g. often in Cyrillic, or in another language).
Eggs from other animal species. This category reports the
products made by the eggs of animals other than fish.
Examples are ‘snail caviar’, with snail eggs used to produce
a white caviar, as well as sea urchin eggs and lobster eggs,
respectively, from sea urchins and Homarus spp.
Caviar imitations
The category ‘imitations’ is used in this overview for prod-
ucts that look like ‘caviar’ but are made from other biologi-
cal substances, mainly fish flesh, seaweed, or vegetables.
Small balls similar to eggs are constructed from these sub-
stances to imitate the aspect and taste of caviar. The com-
mercial names of these products are often created in such a
way as to resemble a near-enough image of the most impor-
tant and well-known sturgeon names such as Beluga, Osetra
and Sevruga.
A product imitating caviar from sturgeon species was ini-
tially created in the mid-1960s at the Institute on Organoele-
ment Compounds (INEOS), Academy of Sciences of the
USSR under the leadership of the academician A. N. Nes-
meyanov. The first industrial production of hens’ eggs ‘cav-
iar’ was in Murmansk in 1994. In succession, several other
commercial imitation ‘caviar’ products appeared on the
market, based on different recipes and ingredients:
(1) Caviar-like products made basically from herring and
anchovy flesh (e.g. Avruga, Harenga Moluga, Anchov-
iar);
(2) Caviar-like products made from marine fish fillets (other
than herring and anchovy). They are rich in vitamins
and contain little cholesterol or saturated animal fats
(Tzar Caviar);
(3) Caviar-like products produced from lobster meat (Lob-
sviar);
(4) Reconstituted products from herring meat mixed with
seaweed (Onuga);
1542 P. Bronzi and H. Rosenthal

Table 4
Species utilized in worldwide caviar production

Family Acipenseridae Common name Distribution CAVIAR

Subfamily Acipenserinae
Genus Huso
Huso dauricus Georgi, 1775 Kaluga sturgeon Amur river system Kaluga
Huso huso L., 1758 Beluga Mediterranean, Black seas Beluga
Genus Acipenser
Acipenser baerii Brandt, 1869 Siberian sturgeon Siberian rivers Osetra (?), Siberian O.
Acipenser brevirostrum Le Sueur, 1818 Shortnose sturgeon North American east coast ‘Breviro’
Acipenser dabryanus Dumeril, 1868 Yangtze sturgeon Yangtze river system
Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque, 1817 Lake sturgeon Great Lake, southern Canada
Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt, 1833 Russian sturgeon Black, Caspian, Azov seas Osetra
Acipenser naccarii Bonaparte, 1836 Adriatic sturgeon Adriatic Sea & tributaries
Acipenser nudiventris Lovetzky, 1828 Ship sturgeon Aral, Black, Caspian & rivers
Acipenser oxyrynchus Mitchill, 1815 Atlantic sturgeon Norh American East coasts
Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897 Persian sturgeon Caspian Sea Osetra
Acipenser ruthenus L., 1758 Sterlet Black & Caspian tributaries Sterlet
Acipenser schrenckii Brandt, 1869 Amur sturgeon Amur River Ossetra Schrenckii
Acipenser stellatus Pallas, 1771 Stellate sturgeon Caspian, Azov, Black, Aegean Sevruga
Acipenser sturio L., 1758 Common sturgeon Baltic, N. Atlant., Medit., Black
Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836 White sturgeon North American Pacific coasts California Osetra
Subfamily Scaphirhynchinae
Genus Scaphirhynchus,
Scaphirhynchus platorynchus Rafinesque, 1820 Shovelnose sturgeon Mississippi Missouri system Hackleback
Family Polyodontidae
Polyodon spatula Walbaum in Artedi, 1792 Paddlefish Mississippi River Spoonbill
Psephurus gladius Martens, 1862 Chinese Paddlefish Yangtze river system
Hybrids
A. naccarii 9 A. baerii AL, Baccarii (?)
H. huso 9 A. ruthenus Bester
A. stellatus 9 A. ruthenus Schipp
A. baerii 9 A. gueldenstaedtii BAGU

Additional to the Acipenseridae and their hybrids are the Polyodontidae (in grey), which belong to the order of Acipenseriformes but
are excluded from the Codex Alimentarius 2010 listing. A. baerii meat is sometimes called Osetra, however its caviar should be labelled
differently.

(5) Products made only from seaweed, and marketed as a
‘delicious vegetarian caviar’ (cholesterol-free) (Cavi-Art);
such products also appear as ‘vegan caviar’, or ‘kelp cav-
iar’, produced in Canada using seaweed as the main
ingredient;
(6) A product called ‘Cavianne’ claims that it “may do for
caviar what margarine has done for butter.” It is pro-
duced from the ‘secret’ recipe of a Japanese producer,
Mr. Mikami. This product covers about 20% of the Jap-
anese ‘caviar’ market;
(7) Soy caviar, a product based primarily on soya meal, low
in saturated fatty acids and available in three flavours:
‘Beluga flavour’, ‘Osetra flavour’ and ‘Sevruga flavour’.
Some 15 of these ‘caviar-like’ preparations are thus far
found on the market; however, there may be more.
Caviar substitutes and imitations are products competing
effectively on the true caviar market, both in appearance and
taste. They began to appear on the international markets in
the mid-1970s, when the sturgeon fishery was at a peak and
the caviar market became important. A second growth phase
for these products was apparent at the beginning of the 1990s,
with a drastic decline in the caviar supply from the fishery and
farmed caviar not yet on the market. Actually, it seems these
opportunities were grasped when the supply of true caviar was
scarce, thus rapidly expanding in markets by introducing both
a substitute for the traditional caviar clientele as well as creat-
ing a new niche market by attracting customers normally not
traditional caviar consumers. This niche market was and is
very important, considering that, at present, the total produc-
tion of these products is in the order of about 60 000 t, com-
pared with the few tonnes of the true caviar supply (Fig. 7).
Obviously the prices for these substitute products are
quite different from those for the true caviar. Compared to
the price of capelin (Mallotus villosus) caviar as a baseline
(2012), the price ratio of similar caviar products derived
from other species is from 20 to 190 times higher than
those of true caviar. Only the caviar derived from snails
fetches a price comparable to caviar from some sturgeon
species such as the sterlet and Siberian sturgeon (Fig. 8).
Caviar simulations
This category includes products that pretend to have the
taste of caviar but are clearly not trying to imitate caviar,
because they are obviously composed of various raw mate-
rials not in the least connected to caviar. They are merely
called caviar because of the substitutive role they would
like to play when a normal consumer cannot afford to buy
real caviar. One of the most common of these products is
the so-called ‘cowboy’s caviar’ made from beans and other
sturgeon and caviar: A global market overview 1543

Table 5
Fish species known to be used as caviar substitutes, indicating the common name in English and scientific name (in brackets) as well as the
trade name of the product

Substitutes
fish Commercial/common names C

Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) MENTAIKO

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) €
TARAMOSALATA/LYSEKIL CAVIAR/SMORG 
ASKAVIAR
Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) HERRING CAVIAR X
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) SALMON CAVIAR
Biwa trout (Oncorhynchus masou rhodurus)
Bowfin (Amia calva) BOWFIN C., CHOUPIQUE, CAJUN C. X
Bream (Abramis brama)
Burbot (Lota lota)
Capelin (Mallotus villosus) CAPELIN CAVIAR, MASAGO C. X
Carp (Cyprinus carpio) TARAMOSALATA, TARAMAS, TARAMA
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) SALMON CAVIAR
Chum salmon (O. keta) SALMON CAVIAR
Coho salmon (O. kisutch) SALMON CAVIAR
Flying fish (Exocoetidae) TOBIKO, TOBICCO, TOBICO C. X
Gobies (Gobidae)
Grenadiers (Macrouridae)
Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) X
Lumpfish - Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) LUMPFISH CAVIAR X
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)
Mullets (Mugilidae) BOTTARGA, POUTARGUE, KARASUMI
Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus)
Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus)
Ling cod (Molva molva)
Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) HERRING CAVIAR X
Perch (Perca fluviatilis)
Pike (Esox lucius)
Pike perch (Sander lucioperca) GALAGAN
Pink salmon (O. gorbuscha) SALMON CAVIAR
Pollack, Pollock (Pollachius pollachius) MENTAIKO
Roach (Leuciscus rutilus)
Sockeye salmon (O. nerka) SALMON CAVIAR
Trout (Salmo spp. O. mykiss) TROUT CAVIAR
Tunas (many species) BOTTARGA, POUTARGUE, KARASUMI
Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) WHITEFISH CAVIAR. GOLDEN W.C.
Whitefish Cisco (Coregonus artedi) €
CISCO, LOJROM, BLUE FIN CAVIAR
Vendace (Coregonus albula)
Common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus)

In some cases the scientific family name is given because the species are not readily specified. Red = species most commonly used. Column
‘C’ = caviar products from species where the eggs are coloured to better imitate true caviar.

vegetables, which has more than 130 000 citations on the
internet and where one can find numerous recipes. There
are similar products such as the ‘Texas fried caviar’, also
made from beans; ‘eggplant caviar’ (‘Caviar d’aubergine’)
made from eggplant; the ‘poor man’s caviar’, made from
eggplant spread; ‘Caviar de mostaza’ (composition unclear);
‘Caviar de berenjena’ (composition unclear); ‘Caviar citric-
o’, made from Citrus australasica, a plant from tropical
Australia and known as ‘finger lime’.
Caviar derivates
These are products using caviar as a recipe component. An
example is ‘ice cream caviar’ containing 65% caviar, and thus
the world’s most expensive ice cream. Another example is the
Norwegian ‘Lofoten chocolate’, which contains about 35%
caviar and is marketed in a small tin, looking similar to the
traditional caviar tins.
Further examples include the so-called J. Co’s Caviar
Donuts, including choco caviar chocolate with different fla-
vours such as choco caviar mint and choco caviar strawberry
as well as some strange flavour combinations such as the
vanilla panna cotta with caramel and caviar.
However, the most important products in this category
using some caviar in their ingredients are in the cosmetics and/
or pharmaceutical sector. It is too far-afield for this overview
to go into much detail here; however, this list includes such
companies as La Prairie, Nitro, Alterna, Dermastir, Prairie,
Platine de Peau, and others.
Caviar is also used, – directly or as a component – in
creams or peeling mixtures for massages in modern spa or
wellness centres.
A peculiar case of using the word ‘caviar’ for a product
was that of Alexander Kosolapov, who created an artwork
entitled ‘Icon Caviar’ (an icon filled with caviar shown in an
exhibition on Russian Pop Art). Such strange applications
1544
received heavy criticism – and even threats from local Ortho-
dox churches. Andrei Logvin, a Russian artist and designer
from Moscow, stirred up the local scene about 10 years ago
with his award-winning advertising poster ‘Zhizn Udalas’
made of true caviar over red trout caviar saying in Cyrillic
“life has been a success.”
Caviar used as a trademark (an emotional issue)
Innovative marketing ideas have evolved around the image of
caviar, trying to reach a clientele that would be attracted by
the mysteries surrounding caviar as being something for the
rich and upper class but inaccessible to the average person.
Within the past decade new products have appeared almost
weekly on the market, mainly promoted through internet
advertising, using the name ‘caviar’ as a recognized brand
or ‘trademark’: these include various low- and high-priced
jewels, clocks, glasses and cups, but also electronic industry
hardware implying specific high quality hard-drives and other
accessories.
Particularly curious is a product called ‘chococaviar’ from
an Italian firm, comprising small pieces of chocolate
P. Bronzi and H. Rosenthal
Fig. 7. Beginning in the 1950s, a
quantitative overview of sturgeon
fishery yield, aquaculture production,
plus the appearance of ‘sturgeon-
related’ products (caviar substitutes)
on global markets. C&CS = caviar
and caviar substitutes; CS = caviar
substitutes (data from various
sources)
formed as caviar grains in a glass jar similar to the typical
caviar tins.
Another type of fancy item to appear on the market is
called a ‘caviar manicure’, in the form of small, coloured
plastic balls that are afixed onto the nails and lips as makeup
for women.
‘Caviar’ has also been used as a company name, to sug-
gest high quality products or services:
‘Canine caviar’ is the trade name of the first true ‘holistic
pet food’;
‘Caviar Affair’ is a specialty magazine celebrating worldly
indulgences and luxury living;
‘Caviar’ is also the name of a movie production company;
‘Caviar’ has also been used as the name for a digital mar-
keting consultancy, implying the provision of prime services
to high quality customers;
‘Caviar’ is also used as the name of a group of companies
offering creative products and services to the GCC (Gulf
Cooperation Council for the Arab states of the Gulf).
This is just a short list of frequently found uses of the term
‘caviar’ and we are certain that this brief survey has barely
sturgeon and caviar: A global market overview
Fig. 8. Price ratio (2012) for various
caviar products derived from major
sturgeons, other fish and invertebrate
species as well as for some substitutes
and imitations. Capelin (Mallotus
villosus) prices have been used as a
comparative baseline (unit 1) for
calculating these ratios
touched the subject. The creativity of companies in the
global market shows rapid and dynamic developments.
The term ‘caviar’ has even entered the music arts. One
song entitled ‘Caviar’ was written by Zeca Pagodinho,
explaining what caviar is. Another old song is entitled ‘Cav-
iar Comes from Virgin Sturgeon’, written by Charlie Drew,
informing us of the aphrodisiac powers of caviar in various
circumstances.
Spherification
A particular category of a caviar-like product incorrectly
called ‘caviar’ is a unique technology called ‘spherification’.
This technology produces small pearls or balls, ‘caviar’-like in
appearance, with an external tougher kernel and a liquid
inside. The process is based on a sodium alginate and calcium
chloride reaction. Drops of any liquid substance added with
sodium alginate are produced by a multi-needle syringe
(caviar box) and laid in a solution of calcium chloride; the
external layer becomes harder, producing small balls of the
liquid. These balls are used mainly for additives to aperitifs,
giving the sensation of a taste ‘explosion’ when pressing the
tongue against the palate as the spheres break. In this way
coffee caviar, black truffle caviar, fake fruit caviar, etc. can be
produced. A recipe similar to spherification uses agar agar.
In general, the word ‘caviar’ has emotional and sensational
associations. When buying caviar, the consumer also buys
the ‘public perception’ of the product (the legendary luxury
connection). It is simply an image and status symbol: who-
ever buys caviar (true caviar) must be a VIP, a rich man, a
man of success.
At the same time, however, the term ‘caviar’ is also linked
to the harsh fishery environment where the fishermen have to
make a living, and – with dwindling natural resources – may
1545
be seen as being in the midst of poachers and smugglers.
Similarly, farmers and caviar traders base their income on
this and may be affected by a potentially negative image if
transparency within the entire product line from farm to
table is not properly organized.
The future of the market
Provided our estimates on caviar production in the near future
are a realistic reflection of the market trend, the future of cav-
iar trade may mainly be determined by demand-driven price
structures, and a new evolving ‘mass market’ could establish
itself, serving consumers with wide income ranges, while the
traditional luxury and expensive market will persist at a fairly
decent level. Reflecting on the past, the traditional market
absorbed about 3000 tonnes yearly. Future market segments
could again produce a mass market composed of medium
income consumers who can afford the new caviar products.
However, such newcomers are critical regarding the quality
control and must not be misled. To win this clientele as long-
term consumers they must be well informed as to the transpar-
ency of the product origin and the compliance with food safety
standards in order to see an incentive to becoming regular con-
sumers. Still, small niche markets will continue and persist,
serving a high income group accustomed to very expensive
products and who consider their attachment to the ‘real’ caviar
to be a status symbol; at the same time, true connoisseurs will
also continue to appreciate the highest quality and rarest of
caviar products. It is critical to the viability of such a niche
market that the industry keeps the consumers well informed so
that they fully trust the sources. Being seriously misled could
quickly lead to a collapse of this market sector.
The key economic impetus for a continued growth of the
caviar market could be specific, correct labelling, known
1546
production reliability in the country of origin, species’ qual-
ity control and traceability, the price structure and stability,
as well as the overall public perception and acceptance of the
various caviar products.
Furthermore, forecast trends for the potentially large scale
caviar production and its implications on market structures,
should be taken into account while also considering restric-
tions the industry will most likely face in the near future.
Potential issues that must be faced are linked to (a) general
animal welfare regulations, (b) prohibiting hormone treat-
ment of animals destined for human consumption in some
countries, and (c) considering the adverse environmental
impact because sturgeons cultured outside of their native
range may be considered exotic species, posing a potential
risk of escapees on the native biodiversity.
Recently, a further risk to sturgeon aquaculture occurred
through a unilateral regulatory measure to prevent trade
with endangered species that was taken by the United States
under the Endangered Species Act to better protect the spe-
cies in the countries/regions of origin. Unfortunately, the
intended effect of such a unilateral measure on natural popu-
lations will be marginal at best, while at the same time exert-
ing a massive negative effect on the aquaculture producers
who have – early on – taken serious measures to become
independent from wild sources. Therefore, the anticipated
prohibition of the import of sturgeon products derived from
listed species seriously counteracts the past attempts to
become independent from wild catches in order to supply the
global markets with caviar and sturgeon meat.
Other issues that add to the risks of sturgeon farming are
the uncertainties of overall developments in the marketplace,
e.g. rapid production increase may affect market sensitivities
to overproduction with subsequent effects on the price struc-
ture, stress in production costs, drastically reduced profit
margins, and additional costs to promote product diversifica-
tion; plus growing competition from alternative products –
the increasing competition from caviar imitations (see the
respective paragraph) as well as opportunities (decreasing
pressures on natural stocks; improved market image). All of
these issues indicate that this relatively new branch of the
aquaculture industry faces similar growing pains and risks,
as are well known from previous developments (e.g. salmon
farming); however, these hurdles may occur within a shorter
time frame.
P. Bronzi and H. Rosenthal
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank deeply the many scientists, producers,
traders, farmers and friends who made possible the collection
of all data reported in this paper, namely, in alphabetical
order: Olivier Brunel, Cornel Caepa, Sandro Cancellieri,
Mikhail Chebanov, Celine Daffos, Carlo Dalla Rosa, Le
Anh Duc, Joern Gessner, John Giovannini, Sergio Giovan-
nini, Ryszard Kolman, Stefano Marturano, Devrim Memis,
Jim Michaels, Maxim Myhaylets, Anna Pyc, Mohammad
Pourkazemi, Arpad Rideg, Iveta Sarova, Radu Suciu, Sun
Dajang, Thi Thanh Tam, Bela Urbanyi, Stefania Vannuccini,
Laszlo Varadi, Qiwei Wei, and Patrick Williot.
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Author’s address: Paolo Bronzi, Via Piave, 8, I-20854 Vedano al
Lambro (MB), Italy.
E-mail: aerespe@mac.com