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The Little Pearl donates 1% of profits to Oceana, an organization committed to restoring aquatic habitats and wild fish stocks. Additionally, we contribute another 1% of profits to Seafood Choices Alliance, helping consumers make smart choices.

We believe that sustainable aquaculture helps to increase supply and thereby reduces price pressure on over-fished species. Sturgeon aquaculture has one of the best environmental reputations in the industry since these land-based farms use well-fed tanks, and are zero discharge.

However, poaching, pollution, habitat loss, and unchecked domestic consumption in traditional caviar producing nations around the Caspian pose a threat to the survival of wild sturgeon stocks. While bans on exports from those nations may help the problem, the future of sturgeon in those regions remains uncertain.

The Little Pearl's uncompromising quality delivers superb caviar that is always sustainable. You may now enjoy the ultimate luxury food with confidence knowing the sturgeon that produce this delicacy will continue to exist. Caviar from cultured sturgeon compares to that from wild caught fish. To enjoy the best, it is no longer necessary to look to the Caspian Sea.

We harvest year-round, so your caviar is fresher than ever before. This results in milder, firmer caviar that is never fishy or salty. The water in the farms and wild fisheries is pristine which produces fish and caviar that are healthier and taste better. Pollution and rapid habitat loss in the Caspian, Aral, and Black Seas not only darkens the future for these living fossils, it introduces contaminants and a questionable pedigree. Further, imports often use borax, a preservative naturally found in the mud around the Caspian. Unfortunately, borax is a type E carcinogen and is not found in caviar prepared in the United States.

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What is Caviar?

Most commonly, caviar is salted fish eggs taken immediately from the fish during spawning season. Different countries use different harvest techniques, different salts, in different quantities. The end product should taste buttery with fresh, clean flavors of the sea, not overly fishy or salty.

Caviar is now made on 4 continents, and the definitions and techniques vary widely. The Little Pearl has tested every major caviar making method and invented several others in our search for the world's best caviar making technique. Here are a few definitions to help you understand this simple, but often confusing product:

Biologically, caviar is the unfertilized eggs of fish. Roe is fertilized.

The FDA ingredients list for caviar reads (roe, salt.) "Roe" in this case means unsalted fish eggs, not fertilized fish eggs gathered in the stream bed.

French law states: if the name simply says caviar, it's from sturgeon. Caviar from other fish must list the species name, such as "salmon caviar."

This definition has carried over to the U.S. and the FDA says when the word caviar is used alone on a label it means the eggs are from sturgeon: "the name "caviar" unqualified may be applied only to the eggs of the sturgeon prepared by a special process."

In Russia, sturgeon caviar is often referred to as black caviar, and salmon caviar is referred to as red caviar.

However, in much of northern Europe, black and red caviar are dyed lumpfish, capelin, or whitefish caviar.