At over $10,000 per kilogram, Africa’s first caviar is surprising the luxury food industry
Source: CNN by Joshua Korber Hoffman, published on february 11, 2025
(CNN) - When Delphyne Dabezies first announced her plans to launch Africa’s first caviar manufacturer, some in the luxury food industry were incredulous.
But now, 15 years since founding her company, Acipenser, with its Rova and Kasnodar Caviar brands, Dabezies’ products have made their way into some of the most prestigious kitchens in the world.
High in the mountains of Madagascar, just east of the capital Antananarivo, Lake Mantasoa has emerged as an unlikely source of this opulent ingredient. “Every expert was saying it was impossible,” Dabezies told CNN.
Caviar is a delicacy made from the salted eggs of sturgeon fish. Traditionally sourced from Russia’s Caspian Sea, it gained luxury status in the 17th century after Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich I made caviar a state monopoly.
Production soon spread around the world. With the establishment of Acipenser in Madagascar, caviar is now produced on every inhabited continent other than Australia.
