The Singapore entrepreneur who wants to make caviar more accessible to all

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The Singapore entrepreneur who wants to make caviar more accessible to all

Benjamin Goh, CEO and founder of Caviar Colony, has shares in a caviar subcontract in Yunnan where the fish dine on a proprietary blend of feed that includes traditional Chinese herbs.

16 Jun 2022 06:30AM (Updated: x Jul 2022 05:13PM)

Benjamin Goh, 51, loves his caviar. Every bit co-possessor of Italian-Japanese restaurant 28 Wilkie – which opened in 2017, boasting Singapore's outset caviar bar – the connoisseur enjoys the luscious blackness pearls on an almost daily basis, regularly sharing the pleasance with his friends and business assembly. He recommends pairing caviar with champagne – the drier the the improve. "A brut, preferably." He also enjoys his caviar with Russian vodka or Louis XIII cognac.

"When you open a tin of caviar, smell information technology," he told CNA Luxury. "Practiced caviar should exist odourless. Its grains should be circular and sturdy. Next, wait for 15 to 20 minutes. Grains of practiced quality caviar will beginning to expand while low-class caviar will offset oozing water, which is an indication that the fish might have been fed antibiotics. When yous eat the caviar, use your tongue to button it to the top of your oral fissure to enjoy its nuttiness, creaminess and oyster-like flavour. Some brands add more than salt to mask the bad taste of junior caviar," he added.

"Skilful caviar is my love and I dedicate most of my time to information technology," Goh explained. Indeed. In 2014, he was given the opportunity to invest in a caviar farm in Yunnan, China along with other shareholders, and he seized the gamble. The farm, in operation for 20 years, has been supplying caviar to some of the world'southward well-nigh renowned caviar houses since 2013.

The Caviar Colony farm in Yunnan, China. (Photograph: Caviar Colony)

Goh wanted to make caviar more than accessible to mass flush consumers. Besides its prestige cistron, he is also a firm believer in caviar'south nutritional backdrop: The roe contains DHA, Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins like B6 and B12, and minerals like calcium, magnesium and zinc.

"Many people think caviar is just for the rich and I wish to modify that public perception. I desire people to be able to enjoy good quality caviar at an affordable price," he explained. Then, together with business concern partner Celine Tan, he fix about developing his own brand of caviar, Caviar Colony, which made its debut concluding month. The brand is available at five restaurants in Singapore – 28 Wilkie, Alma, Meta, Restaurant Nouri and Pollen – equally well as four establishments in Italy, a favourite holiday destination of Goh's.

Caviar Colony has 5 products: Kaluga, Kaluga hybrid, Russian, Amur and Russian Hybrid. The Amur and Kaluga Hybrid varieties go for S$138 for 30g while the Kaluga is priced from Southward$110 for 10g.

Amur caviar pearls are imbued with a hint of green and offering a light, buttery season with subtle nuttiness, and a long, briny finish. Kaluga Hybrid'southward plump caviar grains present circuitous notes of mushroom underpinned by a gentle tang and a subtle bitter finish.

Meanwhile, Kaluga'southward luscious black pearls evangelize a nutty, savoury mouthfeel with umami notes of seaweed. Intertwined with subtle hints of bitterness, the caviar possesses a long, counterbalanced finish.

The caviar is bachelor in 10g, 30g, 50g, 100g, 500g, 1 kg and one.5 kg portions, putting a small indulgence within achieve of the masses.

At the subcontract, the fish are bred in jump water and water from the mountains. (Photo: Caviar Colony)

The sturgeon bred on the farm – which span a massive 800 hectares, or viii sq. km – are native to Heilongjiang, or the "Black Dragon River", which serves as the natural border that separates the Russian Far Due east from Northeastern China. It is illegal to grab wild sturgeon.

At the farm, the fish are bred in spring water and water from the mountains, which Goh vouches dramatically improves the quality and texture of his yield. They are fed a proprietary blend of traditional Chinese herbs, salmon oil, deep sea shrimp, fish and other nutritional supplements.

"Sturgeon from lakes, for instance, produce caviar that is earthy and its flavour is mixed with the gustation of the lake's minerals. Customising our feed lets us control the growth and fat content of the sturgeon, forth with the taste of the caviar," Goh remarked. "Nearly chiefly, we exercise not feed our sturgeon antibiotics."

Staff meticulously sift through each batch of caviar to remove impurities. (Photograph: Caviar Colony)

"Quality is always important, afterwards price is long forgotten," quipped Goh, who oversees every step of the farming and production process. "Consumers might not call up how much they paid for something, but will retrieve their first feel tasting a product."

While the primary subcontract is located in Yunnan, the inquiry farms are sited in Beijing. Some other farm in Chongqing is where male sturgeons are kept. Their sperm is used in the fertilisation process before they are slaughtered and sold for their meat. Female sturgeons are a lot more than valuable than males – an ironic occurrence in Mainland china.

"You tin can't tell male and female sturgeons apart when they hatch, so you tin can only feed them until they are 3 or three-and-a-half years old, which is when you tin scan the fish to determine the sex activity," Goh explained. The fish reach sexual maturity around the age of eight and produce their start batch of roe. Only and so does Goh detect out if and how well his investment has paid out. "This is when we gustation and decide whether the roe tastes skillful or bad." Afterward, farmers have to wait one more bike and but collect the second batch of roe from the sturgeon when they accomplish the historic period of 10.

Caviar Colony'due south caviar is harvested in a controlled environment after at to the lowest degree x years. (Photograph: Caviar Colony)

After harvesting, the roe is advisedly treated and rinsed before undergoing an ageing procedure for two months. During this time, the caviar is salted sparingly — three.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent compared to the industry standard of five per cent to eight per cent — using mineral table salt from Portugal. This allows the true flavour of the caviar grains to shine through earlier they are packed into airtight gold tins.

The tins are crafted in Paris, hermetically sealed, stamped with the CITES logo that vouches for the brand'due south sustainable practices, and so embossed with the Caviar Colony logo. Unopened, each tin can of caviar has a shelf life of up to six months if stored at -two to -4 degrees Celsius.

Global consumption of caviar is half a meg tonnes per twelvemonth; Goh reckons that in that location is potential to grow this figure. Currently, Caviar Colony can produce l tonnes annually, but Goh aims to become the world's largest supplier of caviar within three to five years. He likewise plans to open up 10 Caviar Colony bars around the globe.

The Singapore entrepreneur who wants to make caviar more accessible to all

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