At the pristine, rain-fed Lake Mantasoa, 1,400m above sea level and surrounded by forest on all sides, a Madagascan caviar farm produces roe for the wealthy diners of Paris and other global capitals. The farm has decided to postpone its spring harvest this year, as the island nation went into lockdown and its supply chains retracted because of the global coronavirus pandemic. But as social distancing restrictions ease, Rova Caviar is again primed to extract the next batch of roe from the abdomen of its pure-bred sturgeon; which will be rinsed, salt-cured and tinned. A 250g tin of Rova Caviar’s “Supreme” range is priced at €700 ($757). Each fish produces up to 12kg of roe, which makes its produce worth nearly as much as an Audi A6. The farm produced over 5 tonnes of caviar in 2019, part of a world market of about 340 tonnes. The company, which packages its caviar in black tins illustrated with a colonial building, aims to benefit from the unique Madagascan origins.
SOURCE: AFRICAN BUSINESS MAGAZINE