We have recently changed our name from Stolt Sea Farm California LLC to what we now are called, Sterling Caviar, LLC.  We did this in order to avoid confusion with our customers and to better reflect the business we are in.  So in some of the press clippings, you will see reference to Stolt Sea Farm California LLC, that is still us, no changes to management or the care we provide our fish and our caviar has changed, it is a change in name only.

NEW STERLING CAVIAR GRADING

Sterling Caviar LLC  is rescaling the grading of Sterling Caviar. Up until now the grades have been based on an overall Sterling quality LEVEL with individual grades subdivided by color. Starting now Sterling caviar grades will be differentiated by quality and rarity, not color (although the new Sterling Imperial will be a bit lighter). This will result in three grades.

Sterling Imperial: In the course of inspecting our white sturgeon catch, we occasionally come across caviar that reveals an unmistakable superiority in every essential of taste, texture, color and size. We anoint this caviar Sterling Imperial – the emperor of all caviar. Due to its exalted quality and rarity, Sterling Imperial is often unavailable.
This new Imperial takes in the former Sterling Imperial and Sterling Premium but with overall higher quality and with an average larger egg size.

Sterling Royal: Harvested from more mature white sturgeon, our Sterling Royal caviar is characterized by a larger, firmer bead that bursts with an intensely rich and nutty flavor that will delight the caviar connoisseur.
This new Royal combines the former Classic and Royal black with large egg size but exhibiting the darker colors.

Sterling Classic: The caviar from our farm-raised white sturgeon caviar has been likened to Osetra, with a nutty flavor that is both smooth and robust. The small, firm pearls are defined by a warm dark color.
The new Sterling Classic exhibits the high quality of Sterling but consists of a smaller egg size on the average.

This change in grading enhances the true quality of Sterling Caviar by making the grade distinctions on actual egg quality rather than color and gives the consumer a true choice in quality. Rather than have a general quality which can have wide variations in egg characteristics between lots, we will now have grades which have tighter characteristic qualities. We feel this will better represent the caviar we produce and serve our customers better.

MOVE OVER BELUGA - American fish farms are producing caviar so good it rivals the Caspian's best
By Amy Cortese

Great little story about domestic caviar and their newly gain position in the world of caviar. To read the full story click on the address below.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_17/b3830098_mz025.htm

American Caviar Comes Into it's Own
By Marian Burros
The New York Times - November 13, 2002

Ms Burros writes about the many dark aspects of the caviar industry by giving examples of current indictments of folks handling and dealing in illegal caviar. From illegal importation to miss labeling. She gives references from the US Fish And Wildlife Service who oversees the inspection and authorization of imported caviar. They keep a close eye on the caviar coming in to the United States and yet know that they don't catch all the caviar being smuggled in by the black market. The US Fish and Wildlife actual recommends that the consumer shift to the domestic caviars because of confidence in what they are getting. Ms Burros then discusses her tasting of caviars this year and compares the white sturgeon caviar as better than ever before and matching in quality to the best Osetra available.

To read the complete article it can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/13/dining/13WELL.html for a short time.

This new book by Inga Saffron, Architecture Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is a great read. She takes you through the history of caviar, the historical and current players in the caviar trade, the current situation of the industry and the resource, and the potential for the future. She writes in first person and creatively talks about the people she interviewed and places she visited in the process of researching this project. This book gives the reader a first hand look at the caviar industry, both past and present. Chapter 10 actually talks about Sterling Caviar and Ms Saffron's experiences while visiting Stolt Sea Farm California.

When Forbes Magazine was reviewing this book for their late September issue, they actually asked us to send them some Sterling Caviar so they could taste what Saffron was talking about. The result of that tasting was very positive for farm raised caviar.

This book can be purchased at your local book store for around $24 per copy or check it out at your favorite on line book store.

Important Information about Caviar

For information on the world environmental issues of sturgeon you should browse the web site "Caviar Emptor - Roe To Ruin". www.caviaremptor.org

This organization is formed by three groups, The Wildlife Conservation Society www.wcs.org , The Natural Resources Defense Council www.nrdc.org, and SeaWeb www.seaweb.org. It advocates the protection of the threatened wild sturgeon in the Caspian Sea by banning international trade of Beluga caviar and severely restricting trade of caviar from the other wild caught sturgeon in that region. In 2000 Caviar Emptor petitioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service to place the Beluga sturgeon on the US Endangered Species List.

About American Caviar

On the Caviar Emptor site there is a great page called "What's Being Said About American Caviars". Check it out:  www.caviaremptor.org/whatsbeingsaid.html

[ Top of page ]