If someone asked you to name the most expensive
foods in the world, you might think of lobster, saffron, or Wagyu steak. Maybe ice cream topped with twenty-four karat
gold flakes. But sooner or later, caviar always springs
to mind – it’s widely considered to be the most expensive food in the world. These dark, slimy eggs might look unassuming,
but they’re a certified food-of-choice for the rich and famous. Everyone from Aristotle to Gordan Ramsey has
declared their impartiality to caviar, and a single ounce can cost hundreds – or even
thousands – of dollars. Let’s face it, most of the world’s population
have never even tried caviar. If you’re one of them, you might be wondering
what the fuss is all about. Or maybe you have tried it, but were left
wondering the same thing – caviar certainly has a reputation for having a, well, unusual
taste. Many people assume that the high price tag
comes down to caviar’s power as a status symbol. Much like designer clothes and flashy cars,
there are plenty of people willing to splash out on items that have a reputation for being
expensive, for the simple reason that they want to prove they can. But when it comes to caviar, there’s actually
a greater explanation for the cost. In today’s episode of The Infographics Show,
we’ll investigate the history of caviar, how it’s made, and why it’s so expensive. Caviar comes from the unfertilized eggs – otherwise
known as roe – of the sturgeon, a prehistoric fish that has inhabited the earth for over
250 million years, predating even the T-Rex. The sturgeon is a distant relative of the
shark, and it certainly bears a resemblance. Measuring six to twenty-four feet long and
weighing up to sixty kilos, this ancient creature is a force to be reckoned with. Due to their huge size, female sturgeons can
also produce millions of precious eggs; it’s not hard to see why they’ve been likened
to living goldmines. The fish are native to North America and Eurasia,
specifically the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. There are twenty-seven species across the
world in total, but only seven are hunted or farmed for their roe. In fact, the majority of caviar on the market
comes from just four species: the Beluga; the Sterlet; the Osetra, and the
Sevruga. The Beluga, found mostly in Russia, is known
for being the highest quality and most expensive. Unfortunately, even though wild-caught caviar
has historically been the most desirable, there aren’t many wild sturgeons in the
sea anymore due to overhunting. Instead, the majority of roe comes from farms. Production is highly concentrated in a few
locations – there are just two thousand sturgeon farms in the world, and the Chinese
company Kaluga Queen produces 30% of the world’s caviar alone, making up sixty tonnes annually. Most other farms are in traditional sturgeon
hotspots like the U.S., Russia, Europe, and Iran. So, you can probably already see the first
reason why caviar is so expensive: there’s not much of it to go round. Tragically, sturgeons are the group of species
most critically endangered in the world: eighteen of the twenty-seven types are on the red list
for threatened species. According to the WWF, it’s estimated that
sturgeons in major basins have declined by 70% over the last century. This is almost entirely due to the impact
of humans. Throughout the twentieth century, sturgeons
were poached aggressively and their numbers saw a rapid decline. Although many other species have been fished
or hunted by humans, the impact of this is greater on the sturgeon population due to
their biology. Most animals can procreate within months,
weeks, or even days – but for the sturgeon, this process takes years. Depending on the species, sturgeons only reach
sexual maturity when they’re between eight and twenty years old. This means that if they’re being poached
ferociously, it’s impossible for them to repopulate quickly, leaving them vulnerable
to extinction. Plus, even though female sturgeons produce
millions of eggs each time they procreate, chances are that only one of those eggs will
actually make it into adulthood. This means that sturgeons are vulnerable even
when left in nature, but add poachers into the equation and chances of survival are even
lower. Authorities have now ramped up their efforts
to protect the sturgeon. There’s been a huge reduction in the number
that can be legally poached, to the point where it’s almost impossible to get your
hands on wild-caught caviar, and imports and exports are closely monitored by most countries. Nonetheless, it’s hard to stop illegal poaching
completely. Remember, sturgeons are practically goldmines
– this creates a vicious cycle as their scarcity and high value gives poachers an
incentive to take part in this harmful trade. And overfishing isn’t the only reason sturgeon
numbers are running low. The prehistoric fish are also extremely sensitive
to the temperature and cleanliness of water – even subtle changes can threaten their
survival. And which man-made event has altered water
masses all over the globe? Pollution. Water contamination has had a tragic impact
on the sturgeon population, including tumors and disease in the vital organs and muscles. Deformities in eggs have become more common
too, which has changed the taste of caviar. As if fleeing poachers and inhabiting a poisoned
environment wasn’t enough, dams and the destruction of natural watercourses have made
it more difficult for sturgeons to reach their feeding and breeding grounds. Basically, they’ve had a tough few years. It’s no secret that scarcity brings value. It might sound insensitive to compare animals
to commodities, but you don’t exactly need to be an Economics professor to know that
supply equals demand. When there’s less caviar to go around, you
have to pay above the odds to get your hands on some. But even if sturgeons weren’t on the verge
of going extinct, high-quality caviar would still be unlikely to come cheap. This elusive species is also extremely complicated
to farm. Remember, sturgeons take between eight and
twenty years to be able to produce eggs – that’s a lot of time to be waiting around and continually
feeding a fish. Knowing when the sturgeons are going to produce
their roe isn’t an exact science either, especially if you want to be sure the eggs
are in perfect condition. There’s no magic formula saying delicious
eggs will be ready the minute a sturgeon turns ten years, two months, and five days old. Instead, farmers must carry out regular autopsies
over the course of various years. It’s not exactly a cheap and easy job. Of course, only female sturgeons can actually
produce eggs – but there’s no way to tell males and females apart until they’re a
few years old. Even then, the only way to differentiate is
by carrying out a body scan. Nobody wants to risk forgetting a sturgeon’s
gender after all that hassle! So, four tanks are needed: one for growing;
one for breeding; one for females, and one for males. When the female sturgeons have finally grown
their much-anticipated roe, there are two ways to extract it. In the past, breeders always killed the sturgeons
to get the eggs out. This is still a common practice, but a new
method called stripping is beginning to gain popularity, in which sturgeons are injected
with hormones to ease out their eggs. Both are expensive processes. Considering a sturgeon can live up to one
hundred years, killing it when it’s reached less than a fifth of its potential lifespan
can certainly be seen wasteful, ethics aside. But paying for hormone injections to get the
eggs out is expensive too. So, just to recap, farming sturgeons involves:
caring for a fish for years until its gender is identified; monitoring female sturgeons
constantly for at least eight years to check the status of their eggs, and ensuring the
water is a perfect temperature and the sturgeons are happy, healthy, and stress-free. It’s a tall order just to get a few eggs! The roe is harvested by hand, separated gently
from the membrane without bursting the balls, and it’s then rinsed in cold water. Typically, the eggs are divided into categories
depending on their quality. It’s believed that fuller, rounder and lighter-colored
eggs have the highest quality and the best taste. Finally, the perfect amount of sea salt is
mixed in, and the caviar is left to mature for around four months. There are some serious costs involved in all
of this – years of human labor, sophisticated equipment, and a complicated production process. Now you understand why the cost of caviar
is justified, you’re ready to brace just how expensive this delicacy really is. The cheapest caviar from Costco costs $31
per ounce. To put that into context, the same quantity
of Wagyu steak costs around $7.50, and lobster is an economical $1 per ounce. That already sounds expensive, but realistically
you’re likely to be paying a lot more. The price varies widely depending on the species
you buy, but expect to pay between $50 to $3,000 per ounce from a respected brand. Beluga caviar, which is generally revered
as the best-tasting type, costs $350 per ounce on average. Even a cheaper alternative, like Siberian
caviar, costs $75 per ounce. If you come across something cheaper, you
might want to check you’re buying real caviar. Sometimes eggs from other fish, like salmon,
are sold as caviar, but ‘true caviar’ always refers to the eggs of a sturgeon. Prices can reach unbelievable heights. According to the Guinness World Records, the
most expensive caviar in the world comes from the Iranian Beluga. Sometimes referred to as ‘black gold’,
a single ounce costs $17,000. It might sound ridiculous, but the Iranian
Beluga is a rare albino sturgeon that only reaches sexual maturity at the ripe old age
of sixty. The caviar is said to have a smooth, buttery
taste and to be the most delicious in the world – but good luck with ever finding
that out first-hand Naturally, you can’t eat caviar in any old
way. If you have the audacity to use a spoon made
of metal, even silver, it could react with the roe and ruin the taste. Instead, opt for mother-of-pearl – we all
have a mother-of-pearl spoon lying around in our cupboard somewhere, after all. Alternatively, the traditional way of eating
caviar is to place it on the skin between your index finger and thumb, then roll the
eggs slowly around your mouth. The eggs are supposed to pop in the mouth
and release the flavor. As for serving suggestions, you can either
eat caviar on its own or accompany it with neutral foods like potato or cream cheese. So, next time you feel like burning some money
you at least know how to do it properly. Sturgeons have been around longer than the
dinosaurs, so the rich and famous of the modern-day aren’t the only ones who’ve had the chance
to indulge in this luxurious food. Various pieces of ancient literature contain
references to caviar, and some say it could be one of the oldest delicacies in the world. It’s been desired by kings and aristocracy
for decades, including the Ancient Greeks, the Romans, and Russian tsars. In fact, it was Russian tsars that first pushed
the idea of caviar as a luxury item, after the French began to import the food from them. But caviar hasn’t always been so expensive. Once upon a time in the nineteenth century,
sturgeons were so prolific within North American rivers that roe was thrown away as a waste
product onto beaches and streets. It was often served in saloons for free because
owners believed that the salty taste would encourage customers to buy more drinks. So, what’s changed? Before pollution and the destruction of waterways
became an issue, conditions allowed sturgeons to thrive in their environment despite their
challenging biology. This meant they could be caught in the wild
instead of farmed, which was cheaper. And even though people did go fishing for
sturgeons, caviar wasn’t internationally sought-after to the extent that overfishing
became an issue. Eventually, the proliferation of sturgeons
in the areas with a surplus began to be noticed. Entrepreneurs arrived with an interest in
exporting the product, which led to the US producing the majority of the world’s caviar
in the nineteenth century. This caused a caviar boom, which eventually
led to a shortage in sturgeons and an increase in prices. It’s hard to separate the story of caviar
from the tale of environmental destruction at the hands of humans. Sturgeons were going strong for literally
hundreds of millions of years, surviving everything from ice ages to meteoroids, until we came
along and decided their eggs were a valuable commodity. It goes to show that caviar isn’t just expensive
for being a status symbol. Not only are the species some of the most
endangered in the world, but sturgeon farming is extremely labor intensive and complex. But, on a lighter note, there’s hope for
the future. New advances in aqua farming and production
technology are making sturgeon farming more efficient and affordable. For instance, biologists in Wisconsin are
helping sturgeons return to spawn in the area, inspiring similar schemes around other rivers
around the US. As well as taking the species of the red list,
this is likely to reduce consumer prices. So, have hope: maybe one day, you too will
be able to taste caviar.
