Bulgaria turns out to be one of the largest producers of luxury black caviar, whose price per kilogram is chasing the price of gold.
An economist by education turned his hobby into a business. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance. The owner of a fish farm, where the expensive gourmet black caviar is obtained, told bTV:
Black caviar in a small box is almost the price of gold. It is produced in Bulgaria. It is sought after in Japan, the United States, Monaco and the Maldives. Always for rich and special clients:
„At Christmas in the United States there is quite a big demand... At Christmas they celebrate and buy a lot of black caviar“, says Anton Tsvetkov, owner of a fish farm, village of Joakim Gruevo.
And have you had inquiries from Australia?
We have had inquiries from Australia, yes. From Japan, from the Maldives, we sell to Saint Barthes, Monaco, France, Germany, Italy, all over the world.
What turns out is that there are quite a few rich people?
Yes, there are. It's just that the level is much higher than in Bulgaria, unfortunately, and they can afford it.
The expensive fish gourmet is sought after both for its taste and for its health benefits. Caviar protects the heart, improves the functioning of the nervous and reproductive systems. It is consumed raw with sparkling wines or vodka.
The expensive caviar is obtained from sturgeon fish, which are endangered in nature due to poachers. In our country, sturgeon fish live in the Black Sea, but they spawn in the freshwater Danube River. On an area of 72 acres, Anton Tsvetkov breeds sturgeon fish near the Plovdiv village of Joakim Gruevo. He started 10 years ago, but only 3 years ago he was able to collect caviar. Its wholesale price is also impressive:
„600 euros per kilogram. This is already for very large buyers who can buy it. This is the tenth generation that we are doing, but after the seventh year it starts to produce caviar, black caviar“, explained Anton.
Generally speaking, in terms of price, it borders on a gold bar?
No, a gold bar is much more expensive. But there is something.
However, there is an even more expensive class of caviar. It is obtained from giant sturgeon fish. It takes 20 years to collect the first harvest:
“The sturgeons, for example, they grow to 40-50 kilograms and then the caviar is extracted from them. But that requires 20 years of looking after and servicing this fish, large spaces, large reservoirs, which we don't have the opportunity to do here at our base," Anton said.
Is that why sturgeon caviar is so expensive?
Absolutely! 20 years of looking after one fish is not cheap at all.
What is the price of sturgeon caviar?
It can be 5,000 euros, 8,000, or 10,000. It all depends on the quality of the caviar.
And is there a demand?
There is a demand.
It takes between 7 and 10 years to raise an ordinary sturgeon for caviar. This year's harvest will begin in a month and will peak before Christmas.
The consumption of caviar also has its own characteristics:
„These are special utensils. The spoon itself is made from the shell of the mussel. It is not eaten with an iron utensil, so as not to give an iron taste to the aroma and caviar itself“, explained Anton.
To achieve maximum taste qualities, the caviar is harvested only once.
„We slaughter each fish upon request. We do not make caviar in advance, so that it can be as fresh as possible, to be of the highest quality. And we make it according to the client's recipe“, the man also said.
The fish meat is also in demand. It is tender, boneless and costs 20 leva per kilogram.