Our Story – California Caviar Company

Our Story

Pioneers of Sustainable California Caviar

CAVIAR ROOTS THAT RUN DEEP

"The California Caviar Company is the only vertically integrated caviar company in the U.S. Keane, who founded the company in 2007, says she’s seen caviar become unapproachable to consumers for two reasons. One, the availability of reliable sources. In the past decade, wild caviar was banned world-wide and farming became the method of necessity and choice.... It took years for sustainable farms to catch up; it takes up to 10 years to raise a sturgeon to produce 3-millimeter eggs. Two, the stocks depleted so rapidly that the prices shot up to unreasonable rates. But the supply is steadily increasing. In 2004, when Keane started farming, there were six farms raising sturgeon. This past year there were nearly 2,000 farms raising sturgeon around the world."

- Robb Report

A pioneer of the sustainable caviar movement, Keane founded California Caviar Company to address the lack of reliable supply in the marketplace. CCC was born out of necessity due to the domestic caviar crisis in early 2000s, an error that was marked by the depletion of wild stocks and an increase in illegally sourced product. By 2004, consumers and chefs had lost confidence in the caviar industry because of the decline in quality, safety (use of Borax and garage processing) and transparency in the industry. For over a decade, California Caviar has been true to its core mission. In 2007, CCC launch the first caviar company to only sell sustainably farmed caviar years before the worldwide ban on wild sturgeon in 2011. Our CCC initials and linked logo not only represent our name but also stand for Company Connecting Change, linking the old world traditions and mystique with the new world of innovation and sustainable aquaculture.

California Caviar’s uncompromising reputation and brand integrity will always remain focused on sustainability, innovation and education. CCC owns the U.S. master patent for the Köhler Process, allowing us to use first ever techniques for caviar extraction without harming the sturgeon, pioneered by Prof. Dr. Angela Köhler. We look forward to continuing our sustainable mission by producing the first-ever only living caviar (also known as “no-kill” caviar) to the United States in 2022. Once approved by the FDA, we will be able to massage the fish to extract the precious eggs and will continue to set the national standards for sustainable caviar.

“I’ve always liked the challenge of doing something that’s never been done before. My passion for the process gives me the strength and endurance to pursue the unknown.”

- Deborah Keane,