Algarve caviar headed for top restaurants
Today we’ll be talking about an Algarve first: the first time Algarve caviar will be produced destined for the region’s top level restaurants.
Caviar Portugal has said that while the sturgeon is still juvenile, it is in good health and growing fast and soon it will be old enough to produce the high value caviar they’re aiming for.
Apparently a group of chefs from renowned Algarve restaurants were touring through the region to visit the various producers and they also decided to check in on the sturgeons.
They wanted to know how the entire production process works and what Algarve Caviar’s plans were for the future as far as what they plan to produce in the future and on what business terms. They were also very interested in the idea of sourcing their caviar from a local place.
The caviar will not be ready for a while though, because the sturgeon has to grow in a controlled environment and the caviar extraction process is a long-term one. The juveniles will require a few years to grow enough so as to mate so that the eggs can be harvested.
There are 25 species of sturgeon and most of them are endangered in Europe, whilst in North America they still grow naturally. Even so, the majority of caviar today comes from aquaculture.
In an interesting interlinked piece of news, it appears that Portugal’s restauranteurs are planning to appeal to the Constitutional Court to lower the VAT rate on meals back down to 13% by claiming that they are suffering from discrimination.
They consider that they are discriminated against because restaurant owners are not entitled to any unemployment benefits but are still forced to pay social security like everyone else.
This is an interesting idea and approach to say the least, especially because it is seen that the current judges in the Constitution Court seem to be set against the government even in the face of very stiff political winds.
