French caviar farms look forward to EU label of origin

At a French caviar factory, a worker used tiny pliers to carefully line up black sturgeon fish eggs against a ruler. "I'm measuring the eggs to be able to classify them. Above a certain size, they're premium," said Magdalena Puaud, wearing a hair net and face mask. The fish roe, once sorted and left to mature in small tins for several months, will be sold in France and abroad for 2,000-10,000 euros ($2,200-11,000) a kilo. Caviar was first introduced to France around a century ago by Russian aristocrats who had fled their home country after the 1917 revolution. The southwestern region of Aquitaine, which is naturally home to sturgeons, started to produce the delicacy in the 1920s and is today home to four caviar farms that make up 90 percent of all French production. After a decade of lobbying, Aquitaine's farms are looking forward to their caviar finally receiving an EU certificate of origin in the new year. According to the European Union, "geographical indications" protect ...