The voracious appetite for salmon roe
Although for some fish egg connoisseurs salmon caviar is nothing like the real thing, for most others, they’ll choose salmon caviar over sturgeon caviar nine times out of ten. It’s somewhat affordable, and it’s healthy and delicious. The demand for “red” caviar on the global market has skyrocketed over the past four years and buyers are scouring the globe to find the product’s basic ingredient - roe. Less than a decade ago most salmon companies in Chile didn’t even bother to separate the fish roe in the processing line and tossed it out along with the guts, or let the plant workers take them home for fish bait. Today there are more Russians than ever in Chile’s salmon capital city of Puerto Montt, and they are after one thing – fresh, ripe salmon and trout roe. Since salmon companies do not intentionally produce roe, most prefer to sell whatever amount they happen to end up with on the national market. And on the national market it is mind-boggling just how high the price can get. Within this year’s season the price for roe has jumped all over the board, reaching a record high of USD 10 per kilo fresh and USD 15 for frozen.
