Sustainable, farm-produced American Black Opal caviar debuts this week
Black Opal Platinum Reserve among world’s finest caviar
SARASOTA, Fla. (Sept. 16, 2015) – Black Opal caviar, the much-anticipated farm-raised black sturgeon caviar developed at Mote Marine Laboratories in Sarasota, goes to market this week, according to Christopher Cogan, chief executive officer of Healthy Earth Inc.
More than a million dollars’ worth of the very high-quality black caviar, produced from farm-raised Siberian sturgeon, has been produced for this initial marketing effort, Cogan said. The caviar is available in several amounts – from one-ounce jars, to one-kilo tins – which are now being labeled and packed in anticipation of shipping to select retail outlets and fine restaurants.
“We have plenty of caviar on the shelves, ready to go,” said Cogan. “We’ve produced nearly 1,000 kilos of Black Opal caviar in anticipation of this initial marketing effort. Our team of experts at Mote Aquaculture Park continue to harvest the largest, best-quality caviar they have ever produced.”
The story of Black Opal caviar and how it came to be is a fascinating tale of the meeting of technology and epicurean knowhow.
Sarasota’s prestigious Mote Marine Laboratory, a leader in research that supports long-term conservation and the sustainable use of marine resources, spearheaded water recirculation processes and other technologies that successfully applied land-based aquaculture to the production of black caviar, a product that had generally been collected in the wild.
The result: A successful process and operation that can produce nearly two metric tons of caviar and 81,000 pounds of sturgeon meat per year.
Enter Seven Holdings, an investment company that acquired the Siberian sturgeon and caviar business from Mote Marine. It is now beginning to market Black Opal caviar under the Healthy Earth brand – a hand-crafted, small-batch caviar that features a hint of briny sweetness that results in part from its malossol, or “little salt,” curing process.
The first black caviar to be marketed under the Black Opal brand is Black Opal Platinum Reserve ($95 per ounce), the brand’s highest quality grade. Black Opal Platinum Reserve has an egg size no smaller than 2.6 mm and must meet strict standards of firmness, aroma, flavor and appearance. Black Opal Platinum Reserve represents less than 20 percent of the company’s total caviar production.
The Black Opal brand also will include Black Opal Platinum ($76 per ounce), a caviar product that meets the same exacting standards as Black Opal Platinum Reserve but which is slightly smaller in size at 2.4 mm. Another grade, sold under the Black Opal Select, also is available to restaurants, chefs and distributors.
Healthy Earth’s goal, according to Cogan, is to become a world leader in the development of sustainable and economically viable sources of seafood as an answer to overfishing, pollution, and worldwide increases in the demand for seafood. Based in Sarasota, it is supported and led by a team of veteran entrepreneurs and internationally-recognized marine scientists.
To learn more about Healthy Earth, including purchase Black Opal caviar directly, visit its website – www.healthyearth.org
