How We Source

Traceable, legal, and packed in New York.

Here's how caviar gets from the fish to your door. No vague "sustainably-sourced" language, just specific processes and verifiable facts.

Why all serious caviar is farmed

Wild sturgeon populations collapsed in the late 20th century after decades of overfishing. In 1998, international trade in all sturgeon species was placed under protection, and wild Beluga, Osetra, and Siberian sturgeon are now either endangered or critically endangered in their original ranges.

Commercial wild caviar effectively doesn't exist anymore. What you can buy legally, and what we sell, is farm-raised caviar from aquaculture facilities that breed sturgeon in controlled conditions, typically 7 to 15 years before harvesting for roe.

Any vendor claiming "wild caviar" today is either selling illegally harvested product or lying about the source. Ours is farm-raised, legally imported, and documented at every step from the farm to US customs.

Our partner farms

Just Caviar sources from a small number of European and Chinese aquaculture partners. Italy is the world's largest producer of farmed sturgeon caviar. The country pioneered the modern aquaculture industry in the 1970s and now supplies a meaningful share of the global market. France, Poland, and Germany also operate significant facilities. Chinese aquaculture has scaled substantially over the past decade and produces caviar at quality levels comparable to European production.

Each farm operates under national fisheries regulations and the international rules that govern trade in sturgeon. Sturgeon at these facilities:

• Mature in low-density pens over 7 to 15 years (species-dependent)
• Feed on regulated diets with documented protein sources
• Are harvested under controlled, inspected conditions
• Are exported under licensed documentation that records the source facility

We don't publish specific farm names for commercial reasons. Every lot we receive arrives with the export and customs paperwork that identifies where it came from.

The five species we sell

Five sturgeon species, each with its own grain size and character. The Latin name is the one constant across the industry, so it's the one worth knowing.

Hybrids are bred from two parent species and carry both names. This is standard practice in modern sturgeon aquaculture, not a shortcut.

The journey from farm to your door

What "sustainable" actually means here

The word "sustainable" is overused in food marketing. For aquaculture sturgeon it has a specific meaning: farming practices that don't deplete wild stocks, maintain water quality standards, and operate within international regulations.

Our partner farms operate under:

• Licensed export documentation on every shipment that leaves the farm
• National fisheries regulations, EU or Chinese frameworks depending on the facility
• Pen-density limits to reduce stress and disease
• Feed traceability, with protein sources documented
• Wastewater treatment before discharge

We don't claim our caviar is the most sustainable food on earth. Farming any animal for food has environmental trade-offs. We do claim it's raised under regulated international standards, documented from farm to customs, and doesn't touch wild stocks, which is all you can reasonably ask of any seafood in 2026.