A lab sample of UGA Premium Siberian Sturgeon Caviar. (Photo: S. Schupska/UGA)

Georgia Bulldogs roll out caviar line

UNITED STATES
Friday, August 21, 2009, 23:00 (GMT + 9)

A professor at the University of Georgia (UGA) is trying to make caviar a food people will associate with the state. UGA Premium Siberian Sturgeon Caviar went on sale for the first time this month sporting the colours and logo of the university.

The product was given the slogan, “They have Gatorade … we have caviar,” in reference to the University of Florida (UFL), whose researchers invented the sports drink Gatorade.

UGA Siberian Sturgeon Caviar Label (Label: UGA)

“People think of Georgia as the peach state, but Georgia really ought to be the sturgeon state,” noted Doug Peterson, associate professor of fisheries and aquaculture at UGA, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

In fact, as many as four species of sturgeon are native to Georgia, he added.

In his eight years of research trying to find a way to preserve wild fish, Peterson has claimed they face the continued threat of obliteration due to the high value and consequent demand for caviar.

To counteract this destructive system, the professor has devised a cost-effective and ecologically sustainable method to farm Siberian sturgeon. He says this venture could both protect wild populations and create another source of profit for Georgia.

“The flavour was impeccable,” opined Michel Emery, director of sales for leading caviar distributor Petrossian, after tasting the product.

He said the caviar’s colour and consistency match those of expensive high-end caviar.

Doug Peterson with a young sturgeon at the UGA Cohutta Fisheries Center in northwest Georgia. (Photo: Peter Frey/UGA)

UGA caviar can be obtained at Inland Seafood of Atlanta, said Bill Demmond, the chief operating officer and UGA alumnus. It currently sells for USD 58 for 30g or USD 235 for 125g.

The university’s caviar is high-end and “excellent,” Demmond said.

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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