Salmon fish roe differs from the traditional delicacy of sturgeon fish caviar found abroad; it is a lot brighter and more intense in taste.
Mt Cook Alpine Salmon is the only company in New Zealand that farms salmon for roe or caviar.
The company, which raises king salmon in canals in the McKenzie District, started selling caviar three years ago – and now this year's harvest has begun.
Chief executive David Cole said things were going very well and they now had a dedicated farm to farm salmon simply for their roe.
“The fish grow to about 7, 8, 9 kilograms. We feed them special food that has a higher protein content to get extra growth. It takes about three to four years to grow a fish of that size before we can harvest and collect the eggs.”
Cole said about a kilo of caviar was collected from each fish and they expected about 500kg this season.
“Sales are going really well, we have a lot of interest from high-end restaurants, especially in Auckland,” he said.
'We increase production year after year, but only in small quantities, because we have limitations on the amount of fish we can devote to the caviar process.'
Cole said the season only lasts a few weeks and the company makes a point of celebrating it every year.
“The product has a short shelf life so we sell it all domestically, but we are getting smarter with the way we collect and package our caviar. We are working with our product development team in Christchurch to see how we can do that.” extend the shelf life.
“If we do this well, we might be able to sell internationally. I know our sales manager would like to present our caviar to Harrods in London.”