“Demand French caviar! “ The slogan is surprising. But, for the French producers of sturgeon eggs, the hour is serious. Since the closure of restaurants due to Covid-19, the sector which has seven pisciculteurs, six in New Aquitaine and one in Sologne, faces great difficulties.
“About 70% of our turnover is made during the end of year celebrations and 40% in restaurants” , indicates Laurent Duleau, managing director of Kaviar, the main French producer of caviar (twenty of the forty-three annual tons of France). He also chairs the Aquitaine caviar association, recognized by an IGP (Protected Geographical Indication), a sign of quality which testifies to the excellence of a production (without GMOs, without antibiotics, etc.) which is now 100 years old.
Italian and Polish competition
To support the industry, public figures such as journalist Périco Légasse or media chief Christian Etchebest are calling for “Gastronomic patriotism” .
In a “manifesto”, they solicit local shops and supermarkets, “The biggest seller of caviar” , so that the latter puts forward the quality tricolor production (800 to 1000 € per kilo) rather than the “first price” (at 500 € per kilo) from Poland or Italy. Deprived of restaurants during the holidays, “People will want to have fun at home , hopes Laurent Duleau. For four people, fifty grams, or about 40 €, are sufficient. “
These ” new customers “ are also called upon to compensate for exports, which have fallen by 20 to 30% this year. « Sales have spread to Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore etc.) but they are still at a standstill, in the West, in Germany, North America or the United Kingdom. “
The world’s leading producers of caviar with ninety tonnes per year, the Chinese have decided to put their production in freezers. “ These stocks risk weighing on prices until 2022. “
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