In 2009, French entrepreneurs took a massive gamble: building a luxury industry in one of the world’s poorest countries. Before Acipenser, no companies had successfully farmed caviar in Africa. Today, its caviar is served in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. How did they get customers from around the world to take a chance on African caviar? And why is it so expensive to raise sturgeon for "black gold"?
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:01 This is the first caviar produced in Africa.
00:06 From the highlands of Madagascar,
00:07 the company Assapenser harvests 10 tons
00:10 of the expensive fish eggs a year.
00:13 In 2009, French entrepreneurs took a massive gamble,
00:17 building a luxury industry
00:18 in one of the world's poorest countries.
00:28 Huge sturgeon farms in China and Europe
00:30 dominate the market, producing most of the world's caviar.
00:33 But the company's founders were determined
00:36 to raise fish for their black gold
00:38 in the country they had called home since the 1990s.
00:42 Now their products are making their way
00:50 into Michelin-starred kitchens in Europe.
00:55 So how did Assapenser convince Malagasy locals
00:57 on a luxury industry?
00:59 And how did they get customers from around the world
01:01 to take a chance on African caviar?
01:04 Traditional caviar can only come from sturgeon.
01:11 They're native to the Northern Hemisphere.
01:13 Many of the most popular species come from the Caspian Sea,
01:17 where waters can be much colder than Madagascar's.
01:20 That's why the founders raised their fish
01:22 in Lake Montesua, about 1,400 meters above sea level.
01:26 The team spent months crossing thousands of miles
01:29 in search of temperate waters like this.
01:31 The lake rarely tops 25 degrees Celsius,
01:36 and it gave this farm an advantage.
01:38 While sturgeon in the Caspian Sea
01:41 are a rare species,
01:42 they're also a great source of fish for the local fishermen.
01:45 They're also a great source of fish for the local fishermen.
01:48 While sturgeon in the Caspian Sea might grow slower
01:51 during cold winters and hot summers,
01:53 the company says fish here mature year-round,
01:56 thanks to these moderate temperatures.
01:58 The whole process starts in the hatchery,
02:13 where they care for thousands of baby fish
02:15 until they're mature enough for the lake.
02:18 Sturgeon are notoriously tricky and expensive to raise.
02:22 Compared to other farm fish like salmon,
02:25 sturgeon need a long time to grow.
02:27 They can take a decade to mature,
02:29 while a salmon only needs three years.
02:31 So operating a sturgeon farm
02:33 could cost five times more than a salmon one.
02:35 But the team's first hurdle
02:38 was keeping the fertilized sturgeon eggs alive
02:41 along thousands of miles to Madagascar.
02:44 They failed four times,
02:45 trying to import them from France and Russia.
02:48 But the fifth time was the charm.
02:50 The company imported 35,000 healthy sturgeon eggs
02:54 back in 2013.
02:55 That's Delphine Dabouzy, one of Assa Pencer's founders.
03:05 Even the best experts
03:07 didn't want us to get involved in this project.
03:11 On June 26, 2017,
03:15 the day of the first production of the first fish,
03:20 we thought we had a chance it would work.
03:25 Nearly a decade later,
03:28 they've grown their fish population to over 60,000.
03:32 And they raise six different species,
03:34 one of which was thought to be extinct.
03:37 Only female sturgeon produce caviar,
03:39 so once they're big enough,
03:41 the team separates them by sex.
03:43 Assa Pencer releases the males in the lake
03:56 for local fishermen to catch,
03:58 while the females head to the farm.
04:01 With 16 hectares of pens,
04:04 the fish have room to move.
04:06 That's Gijon Bastide.
04:20 He's the farm's breeding manager.
04:27 They use three nets to contain the fish in the pens —
04:31 one where the fish live,
04:32 an extra net in case they escape,
04:34 and a net on top to hold back birds.
04:38 Ten full-time weavers make and mend the nets on site.
04:42 It takes 31 miles of rope and a month of weaving
04:45 to make just one net.
04:47 Assa Pencer has hired and trained 300 Malagasy workers.
04:51 The company says it pays three times the minimum wage.
04:55 We work hard to make the fish live.
05:01 We work hard to feed them.
05:04 We work hard to feed them.
05:07 We work hard to feed them.
05:10 A team heads out to feed the fish five days a week.
05:16 First, crews test the water.
05:21 We test the water to see if it's enough oxygen.
05:25 When there's enough oxygen, they can start adding feed.
05:30 We add water to the fish.
05:34 We add water to the fish.
05:37 We add water to the fish.
05:50 We add water to the fish.
05:55 We add water to the fish.
05:58 We add water to the fish.
06:01 We add water to the fish.
06:03 That's so the food will sink to the bottom,
06:05 where the sturgeon eat.
06:07 The company produces 60 kilos of feed a month,
06:13 made from a base of fish meal and vegetable meal,
06:15 like soybean or rice bran, yeast, and water.
06:20 If the fish aren't fed the right thing,
06:22 Giron says they could take twice as long to grow.
06:25 That's why it's important to have a food that's tailor-made
06:30 for each species.
06:33 And I'd say that the most expensive part of the job
06:37 is the production of the fish's food.
06:41 The company spends over $130,000 a month on feed alone.
06:47 Assapenser makes the food on-site
06:49 and sources about 80% of its ingredients
06:51 from farms nearby.
06:53 Erymonda manages the feed mill.
07:10 His team grinds all the raw materials into powder.
07:15 Machines then cook and shape the feed into granules.
07:19 The recipe and size of the pellets
07:21 change based on the age of the fish.
07:23 Feed is such a big expense for Assapenser
07:36 because the fish eat so much of it.
07:38 [Speaking in foreign language]
07:45 [Speaking in foreign language]
07:47 [Speaking in foreign language]
07:52 [Speaking in foreign language]
07:54 [Speaking in foreign language]
07:56 [Speaking in foreign language]
07:58 While the sturgeon feed, there's always a diver
08:00 watching below the surface to see how quickly the fish eat
08:03 and how deep they go.
08:06 Every few months,
08:07 Gijon's team pulls fish out of the water.
08:10 He checks for roe in the sturgeon
08:17 using this ultrasound machine.
08:20 These fish were born in 2017.
08:23 He measures the roe to help determine
08:33 which fish need more time to develop their eggs.
08:37 They isolate the fish that need a few more years to mature.
08:40 These females are Persian sturgeon.
08:48 They'll spend the last few weeks of their lives in cold pools.
08:53 [Speaking in foreign language]
08:58 [Speaking in foreign language]
09:02 These species can be harvested young,
09:16 at only 7 years old.
09:18 [Speaking in foreign language]
09:22 [Speaking in foreign language]
09:26 This sturgeon weighs 16 kilos.
09:32 But they can go up to 20.
09:35 [Speaking in foreign language]
09:42 [Speaking in foreign language]
09:46 The valuable roe makes up about a fourth of its body weight.
10:01 Mandin Bin Salama worked as a cook before joining Assipenser.
10:05 [Speaking in foreign language]
10:11 [Speaking in foreign language]
10:15 But the roe isn't finished caviar just yet.
10:20 Workers run the eggs over a sieve
10:23 to separate them from the fish's innards.
10:26 Then they wash the eggs to remove any leftover bits.
10:31 These workers spread the roe out
10:37 so they can see any misshapen or discolored eggs
10:40 that need to be removed.
10:42 Now they race against the clock to salt the roe in a minute.
10:47 [Speaking in foreign language]
10:51 Any less time, and the eggs won't have a consistent salty taste.
10:56 The salt, along with four months of aging in these fridges,
11:01 helps develop the caviar's nutty flavor.
11:04 [Speaking in foreign language]
11:08 [Speaking in foreign language]
11:12 A kilo of roeva caviar can go for over $5,000.
11:30 The cost is on par with European brands.
11:33 Assipenser exports 90% of its caviar to Europe.
11:37 But it's up against stiff competition.
11:40 China is Europe's biggest supplier.
11:45 It raises sturgeon on massive farms like this one,
11:48 3,500 times larger than Assipenser's.
11:51 Since 2014, China has been selling the most expensive caviar,
11:56 the kind harvested from beluga sturgeons,
11:59 seen here at a farm in Florida.
12:01 But Assipenser is still years away
12:03 from harvesting its first beluga roe.
12:06 Because it takes nearly double the amount of time
12:09 to raise the high-priced fish, compared to other sturgeon species.
12:12 [Speaking in foreign language]
12:17 Until then, Assipenser is trying to sell the caviar types that are ready.
12:33 The company has opened offices in Paris, Brussels, and New York City
12:37 in hopes of hooking Western markets on African caviar.
12:41 The team has already managed to convince chefs
12:47 at some of Europe's top restaurants.
12:49 [Speaking in foreign language]
12:54 Boris Kampanyela is the executive chef of Le Creme,
12:59 a Michelin-starred restaurant.
13:01 He was one of the first chefs in Paris to put roe vaux on the menu,
13:04 back in 2019.
13:06 [Speaking in foreign language]
13:26 He's taught dishes of torch shrimp, lamb tartare, and ceviche with roe vaux caviar.
13:32 Like this dish of abalone with brown butter.
13:38 [Speaking in foreign language]
13:42 [Caviar clattering]
13:44 And Boris isn't the only chef who's stocked these tins.
14:09 About 15 restaurants across Europe now serve roe vaux.
14:13 The company's success abroad has allowed it to invest back into Madagascar.
14:18 Assipenser started by training locals,
14:23 like Tafita Soa Eriarivoni.
14:26 [Speaking in foreign language]
14:29 And Menchka.
14:30 [Speaking in foreign language]
14:34 [Speaking in foreign language]
14:37 [Speaking in foreign language]
14:57 [Speaking in foreign language]
15:00 The company provides rent-free housing for its workers.
15:19 The housing site also has a grocery store, a mini theater, and a gym.
15:25 [Speaking in foreign language]
15:28 That includes three meals a day.
15:37 Most of the employees' food is grown on-site.
15:41 [Speaking in foreign language]
15:44 [Speaking in foreign language]
15:47 [Speaking in foreign language]
15:50 [Speaking in foreign language]
15:54 [Music]
15:58 [Music fades]
16:02 [Music fades]
16:05 [Music fades]
16:08 (upbeat music)