Trumped: Iranian caviar

We are sometimes asked why we dont stock any caviar from Iran. It is a fair question as Iran does have a certain reputation in the world of caviar and we are called Caspian Caviar!

The reason is two fold. Firstly is the concern over the quality of the farmed caviar from Iran. It is normally Beluga and its vendors always describe it as “the very best”, “best quality”, “best in the world” etc etc and charge accordingly. Sadly, the reality is normally rather different and the caviar is not worth the hefty premium, so we decline the opportunity.

That is not to say that all Iranian caviar does not pass our quality/price test. Indeed, we did stock some very good Beluga a little while ago, which brings me to the second reason we are reluctant to invest in Iranian stock – the long arm of Uncle Sam.

Unlikely as it seems, US financial sanctions can stretch as far as little old Caspian Caviar selling a few tins of caviar. One of our payment options is PayPal, which is an American company which cant risk processing payments for sanctioned goods. We were told, in no uncertain terms, to stop selling Iranian caviar or else our PayPal account would be closed. We did.

Now that Mr Trump is again poised to impose sanctions on Iran, stocking Iranian caviar seems even less attractive. Lucky that there is plenty of good farmed caviar elsewhere in the world!