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Sales of caviar are booming thanks to a Gen Z trend of taking ‘bumps’ of the ultra-expensive fish.

Sales of sturgeon roe are up 74 per cent since 2020 globally, according to 360 Research, with British teenagers and those in their early twenties driving the trend. 

The industry is expected to grow even further and with the marketed expected to  expand by a further 40 per cent by 2027. 

Selfridges has seen the sales surge 15 per cent in December, according to the Times, while chefs across the UK are adding the black gold to their menus.

In part, the trend is thanks to millions of people watching videos of people taking ‘bumps’ of caviar on TikTok.

A bump entails putting a pile of the roe onto the back of your hand and licking it.

Sales of caviar are booming thanks to a Gen Z trend of taking 'bumps' of the ultra-expensive fish (pictured a Tiktoker doing a 'cavair bump')

Sales of caviar are booming thanks to a Gen Z trend of taking ‘bumps’ of the ultra-expensive fish (pictured a Tiktoker doing a ‘cavair bump’)

The industry is expected to grow even further and with the marketed expected to expand by a further 40 per cent by 2027.

People show off their caviar bumps on TikTok

The industry is expected to grow even further and with the marketed expected to expand by a further 40 per cent by 2027. Pictured: People trying caviar on TikTok

Chefs say eating off skin provides the ‘purest tasting’ as the flavour is not polluted by cutlery of other foods.  

While the trend started with influencers – mostly in high end restaurants – before picking up to ordinary people, with many videoes now on millions of views.

Andrew Bird, head of food at the Selfridges, told the Times that caviar has been seen ‘as the preserve of the rich’ but now younger people are seeing ‘what all the fuss is about’.

‘We expect this trend to continue into 2024, with more chefs putting it on their menus and our customers buying it to serve as an impressive appetiser at their dinner parties.’

Beluga cavair, the most expensive type, cost around £600 for a 125g tin. A ‘bump’ is usually around 7g.

The UK’s ‘Caviar Queen’ Laura King MBE. Renowned for being the UK’s leading caviar brand, the Royal Warranted King’s Fine Food, is now the UK’s leading caviar importer.

She believes that caviar can cure a hangover and says 2023 has been ‘absolutely manic’.

‘Caviar works very well on the back of your hand,’ Laura recently told Tom Parker Bowles. 

 ‘However, you need to be very careful about the quality. And, if it’s really cheap, whether it’s even caviar at all.’ 

 ‘Beautifully formed eggs, which gently burst between the tongue and roof of the palette. Fresh and clean aroma. Certainly not fishy. And a taste of the sea. But creamy and nutty, too.’

People have taken to TikTok to explain 'how to do a caviar bump'

People have taken to TikTok to explain ‘how to do a caviar bump’

People put the row of eggs on their hand and lick it in the latest craze to take over the app

People put the row of eggs on their hand and lick it in the latest craze to take over the app

Many people are taking caviar with shots of vodka for an added element of luxury

Many people are taking caviar with shots of vodka for an added element of luxury

Top restaurants also give 'bumps' of cavair

Top restaurants also give ‘bumps’ of cavair 

The price, Laura says, is all down to age of the fish.

‘It’s all down to the age you have to wait for the sturgeon to produce the eggs,’ 

What is caviar? 

Caviar is salt-cured eggs of numerous species of the sturgeon fish. 

Wild caviar always came from the Black (Russian) and Caspian (Russian and Iranian) Seas, where sturgeons (beluga, oscietra and sevruga caviar are all named after the fish from which they were harvested) once flourished. A beluga could take up to 25 years to reach maturity and produce eggs, its relative rarity meaning prices were sky high. But rampant corruption and overfishing decimated stocks and, since 2008, it’s been illegal to sell wild caviar. Everything is now farmed, with China’s main supplier providing 200 out of the world’s 600-ton annual market, some of it (from Belgium and Italy, as well as China) being of very high quality indeed.

 ‘Even for the baeri [kaspia, a species of sturgeon native to Russia], which farms the quickest, it’s a minimum of five years. The investment is huge and you lose up to 30 per cent of your initial fingerlings [juvenile fish], which don’t mature to produce eggs.’

Waitrose sells an ‘affordable’ caviar by premium seafood brand Elsinore at £5 per 100g. It’s made from lumpfish, native to the North Atlantic and parts of the Arctic Ocean, which matures much more quickly. But it doesn’t taste anything like the real thing. Don’t expect to be seeing cut-price Imperial Gold in your local Aldi any day soon.

Carla Sora, general manager of Italy’s Agroittica Lombarda, Europe’s largest caviar farm, told the BBC that the the surge began in lockdown.

Leonid Shutov, chief executive of top London restaurant Bob Bob Ricard told the Telegaph: ‘You see it everywhere, cropping up in places you wouldn’t expect. 

‘Most frequently it’s a garnish, which is not necessarily doing the most justice to it. 

‘But sometimes it’s justified and delivers an enhanced experience. Gen Z seems to love the idea of caviar, which is surprising.’

In the US, Pringles launched a collab with a cavair brand.

The #CaviarAndPringles TikTok hashtag began after an episode of The Real Housewives of New York City.

In season 14 of RHONY, Erin Lichy raved about the sumptuous Pringle and caviar combination to fellow cast member Jenna Lyons, who tried it and did not mind it.

Unfortunately, there is a catch to the new Pringles collection – the price tag.

Three sets at different price points will be available for $49, $110, and $140.

People have taken to TikTok to share themselves trying caviar

People have taken to TikTok to share themselves trying caviar

The Pringle and The Caviar Co collection was created shortly after the blowup of the #CaviarAndPringles TikTok trend - which started after Season 14, episode 2  of The Real Housewives of New York

The Pringle and The Caviar Co collection was created shortly after the blowup of the #CaviarAndPringles TikTok trend – which started after Season 14, episode 2  of The Real Housewives of New York

The $140 set comes with Smoked Trout Roe and Classic White Sturgeon caviar, and Original, Sour Cream & Onion and Barbecue Pringles

The $140 set comes with Smoked Trout Roe and Classic White Sturgeon caviar, and Original, Sour Cream & Onion and Barbecue Pringles

Those who choose to spend $49 will get a 1.3-ounce container of Pringles Sour Cream & Onion and a jar of The Caviar Company’s Smoked Trout Roe with crème fraîche.

For $110, food lovers can get Pringles with the Classic White Sturgeon – caviar that starts at $60 on the company website.

Foodies who can’t decide which caviar they prefer can spend $140 to try both – with three containers of Original, Sour Cream & Onion and Barbecue Pringles.

Head of Marketing for US Pringles Mauricio Jenkins said: ‘Our partnership with The Caviar Co. not only embraces the trending snacking behavior in an approachable manner, but expertly curates our beloved crisp flavors with this seafood delicacy for a Pringles tasting experience unlike one you’ve ever had before.’

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Post source: Daily mail