Caviar Isn't as Fancy as It Used to Be

Caviar has gotten a lot cheaper, and not everyone in the industry is thrilled. A wave of direct-to-consumer startups is pushing "everyday" caviar with promo codes and cheery branding, selling tins for under half what traditional purveyors charge—and sometimes far less, the Wall Street Journal reports. Quince offers a 100-gram tin of Osetra for $125; luxury stalwart Caviar Russe charges $495 for 125 grams of its Classic Osetra and nearly $3,000 for its priciest version. One caviar consultant says upstarts have "called the bluff" on legacy pricing that leaned heavily on snob appeal.

• The Telegraph notes that caviar's reputation as an "intimidatingly opulent ingredient" had already taken a hit from social media trends showing it paired with burgers, spaghetti, hash browns, or in the case of Rihanna's "soccer mom snacks," chicken nuggets.

Behind the discounts: a surge of high-quality farmed roe, especially from China's Kaluga Queen, which supplies both buzzy brands and Michelin-starred restaurants. True caviar comes from sturgeon eggs, and overfishing in the Caspian Sea after the collapse of the Soviet Union led to bans on wild-caught sturgeon. The fish takes a long time to reach maturity, but many farmed in China are now old enough to produce eggs. The marketing bullseye is millennial women, including "sober-curious" shoppers treating themselves to caviar instead of wine. Yossi Bibas, co-founder of the Cavi brand, says the company is pitching caviar as "something that could be for your 'everyday celebrations,' like a date night at home or a girls' night."

Fans praise the access. "For the longest time, at least from my vantage point, caviar was reserved for a certain group that was in the know," says Mississippi baker Ashley Richoux, who shares reviews on social media. Skeptics, meanwhile. warn that ultra-cheap options should raise red flags about sourcing and quality. "It should send the consumer an alert if the caviar is cheap, cheap, cheap—like maybe it's too good to be true," says Edward Panchernikov at Caviar Russe. A blind tasting found some direct-to-consumer offerings overly briny but praised Roe House, Cavi, and Quince, the Journal reports. One Illinois buyer says she now eats caviar often enough to share spoonfuls with her 2-year-old, who had a concise review: "More, more, more."