Talk about economies of scale. An Abu Dhabi company has airlifted in 22 live sturgeon to give a boost to its efforts to develop the world's biggest caviar factory.Etihad Crystal Cargo has delivered a shipment of Siberian sturgeon, which arrived safely on March 21 at the fish farm in Musaffah. The plant is a joint venture between Bin Salem Holding, a local conglomerate, and United Food Technologies, a German company.
"The Etihad Crystal Cargo team, working closely with our ground handling colleagues and clients, demonstrated expertise and co-ordination skills to ensure the fish were shipped safely from Frankfurt to their new home in the UAE," said Roy Kinnear, Etihad Airways' senior vice president for cargo.
Fishery production of the luxury delicacy has leapt worldwide as the wild population of sturgeon and paddlefish, also a source, has dwindled.
Captures of the caviar-producing fish have fallen from 1,915 tonnes in 2002 to 884 tonnes in 2008, according to the latest statistics available from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The export of caviar from the endangered wild Caspian sturgeon was limited by the UN in 2006 to prevent over-fishing by the five countries that border the Central Asian sea, leading to a boom in fishery production elsewhere.
While Bin Salem Group's factory complies with UN regulations, the challenges of farming caviar in a desert climate remain sizeable, according to Pierre el Hakim, the general marketing manager for Caviar Court, a producer based in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
He was sceptical local producers could profit without exporting to the US and Europe, which he said have proven far more robust over the past 10 years. "In the Gulf there's no market," he said.
However, that has not deterred entrepreneurs such as James Smith, the director of Purely Caviar, who recently established a wholesale website to tap new demand.
There is great potential for profit in local caviar sales, he said, such as the creamy white Royal Almas caviar from Iran, which sold at around Dh120,000 per kilogram last year.
Mr Smith said he had entered the business to tap soaring demand from private individuals, luxury hotels and yacht kitchens seeking to load up on provisions.
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