PHOTO FRED DUFOUR/ GETTY IMAGES
O N LY D E G U STAT I O N
8 4 T R AV E L , A R T & L I F E ST Y L E
PHOTO FRED DUFOUR/ GETTY IMAGES
O N LY D E G U STAT I O N
8 4 T R AV E L , A R T & L I F E ST Y L E
TA S T E OF SUCCESS ARMEN PETROSSIAN HAS LED THE FAMILY FIRM THROUGH CHOPPY WATERS, BUT DESPITE FACING BLACK MARKETEERS AND FRESH NEW RIVALS, THE RENOWNED CAVIAR PRODUCERS ARE GOING STRONG BY J E F F R EY T IVE R S O N
O N LY D E G U STAT I O N
A
rmen Petrossian stands in the original Paris boutique of his father Mouchegh and uncle Melkoum, founders of the first caviar import company in France. Holding in his hand a tin bearing the logo they created – a ship bearing a small flag marked with a “P”, braving a violent storm while rays of sunlight break through the clouds in the distance – he laughs. “Of course, in nautical terms the image is questionable,” he says, indicating the wind and the waves apparently moving in opposite directions. “But it is a rather lovely allegory.” The image is a lasting testament to the defiant optimism of two Armenian epicureans who had only just fled the massacres and upheaval of the Bolshevik Revolution when, in 1920, they decided to gamble everything on the French palate. They won: the exotic delicacy they imported became as inextricable to luxury, refinement and haute cuisine as champagne. Petrossian is still the world’s caviar leader, controlling around 20% of the market more than a century after it was established. But it has not all been smooth sailing.
said we were crazy,” Armen recalls. “But what we’d selected was of sufficient quality to rival certain wild caviars, and I wanted to show my clients that.” At that time, a mere 500 kilos of caviar was farmed throughout the world, compared to the 300 tonnes of wild caviar exported from the Caspian. Today, the figures stand at 150 tonnes farmed to no legal exports of wild caviar. In the hopes of saving the sturgeon – the species has survived on the planet for 200 million years but is now critically endangered – the CITES international trade ban on wild caviar was renewed in 2012, as it has been consistently since 2001. Bereft of the iconic image of mighty Caspian fish to push products, the latest generation of caviar distributors and producers has had to create new product identities to entice consumers. Spain’s Rio Frio - or Cold River – produces the world’s first organic caviar from the European naccarii sturgeon (around €45/30g). Similarly, Mottra in Riga, Latvia, claim to offer the first sustainable caviar – the roe is harvested without FA R M F R E S H killing the sturgeon by massaging the Armen became CEO of the company eggs out through a slit in the abdomen, in 1992, during a period when there then returning the fish to water. Mottra’s was an explosion of sturgeon poaching osetra sells for €50/28g, its sterlet, in the Caspian Sea and black-market €62/28g. Other alternatives include caviar production was beginning amid Dubai-based Gourmet House’s original the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union. “bargain” beluga caviar (€144/30g Recognising the need for sustainable compared to Petrossian’s beluga options, in 1998, Petrossian became the caviar’s €288-€384/30g) or the French first major distributor to turn to caviar company Bellorr’s Pure Gold – sturgeon of farmed sturgeons – then a fledgling caviar mixed with 24 carat gold flakes product with a poor reputation. “Everyone (€89/30g). 8 6 T R AV E L , A R T & L I F E ST Y L E
IT IS NOT MONEY THAT MAKES A LUXURY PRODUCT, IT’S SAVOIR-FAIRE – OUR TASTE, OUR METHOD
PHOTOS AMIRAD/ PHOTOCUISINE (2), SUDRES/ PHOTOCUISINE
LEFT: the famous caviar on the tin with the equally famous Petrossian logo — as shown off by Armen Petrossian, previous page
QUALITY COUNTS Armen seems unfazed by such glitzy competition. “It’s not money that makes a luxury product, it’s the savoir-faire – our taste, our method, all that our image is built upon, and that differentiates our caviar and others.” Take the caviar selection process, so rigorous that only 50% of the sturgeon roe the company buys from farms around the world finally earns a Petrossian label. “Just because you have a beautiful crocodile skin, doesn’t mean you know how to make a Hermès bag,” says Armen. “And just because you have sturgeon eggs doesn’t mean you have caviar Petrossian.” Which helps explain Armen’s certitude that, despite a “very difficult past three years ... we can continue to grow”. This year new boutiques will open in São Paulo and Dubai, while the firm has struck a deal with Maya Bay to exclusively distribute its wares in Monaco. New products continue to be developed, adapted to the new consumption habits of a younger generation. Petrossian’s most recent innovations include cocktail-friendly pressed caviar cubes (€32/20g); Papierusse caviar sheets, perfect canapé material (€28/20g); and his marvellous dried caviar powder (€54/30g) – divine on scrambled eggs. Even Petrossian’s premier caviars are now available in 12g “eggs” with mini spoons for on-the-go gourmets. “For me, product quality will always come before all the rest.” It’s a new and uncertain world for caviar, but if anyone will find the way to brighter days, it’s probably Petrossian. petrossian.com