Caviar
One of the great culinary pleasures known to mankind is cured sturgeon roe, known as Caviar.
For those wishing to experience the traditional essence of caviar’s timeless elegance, we offer only the finest selections to satisfy all tastes.
Browne Trading Company is widely recognized as one of the premier purveyors of the finest caviar in the United States. As the market for wild Caspian caviar became more and more restrictive due to the endangerment of overfishing of caviar producing sturgeon, we were among the first in the U.S. who turned to resourcing farm raised caviar from around the World. Browne now sources the best farm raised caviars produced today, harvested as close as Florida and as far away as China. Our renowned caviars can be found in the nation’s elite restaurants and through such distributors of distinction as Williams Sonoma, Dean & Deluca, and Balducci’s.
Every type of Browne Trading caviar is individually selected and graded to insure the satisfaction of our customers. Caviar is handled directly, packed by hand, and stored at our Portland caviar facility by our professional Caviar Director under the supervision of owner Rod Browne Mitchell. We select only the finest caviars available, applying the highest grading system to Mitchell’s exacting standards that include:
1. Consistency and uniformity of the caviar’s color and grain size
2. Superior freshness and richness of flavor
3. Firm texture of eggs on the palate
4. Outstanding color
5. Reliable and consistent supply, with preferred harvesting and curing methods
6. Absolute source/species traceability and CITES compliant
All our farm raised selections are freshly produced with low salt content (Malossol) and a consistency of quality that is often not formerly found in many wild Caspian caviars.
A Brief History of Browne Trading’s Caviar
Caviar was an early passion for our owner, Rod Browne Mitchell. Beginning in 1984, Rod opened “Caspian Caviar” in Camden, Maine – “Wholesalers of the Finest Caviars and Specialty Foods”. Here he became adept at sourcing the best wild caviars from the Caspian Sea, grading them onsite and packaging them by hand under his “Caspian Caviar” brand label. Rod made a mantra of providing full education and traceability behind the caviar he sold: time of harvest, quality selection and grading methodology (a practice upheld to this day). Soon, many chefs were relying on him for their restaurants’ caviar needs.
With the formation of Browne Trading Company in 1991, Rod leveraged his global relationships with producers in Germany to secure the best of Iranian and Russian wild caviars from the Beluga, Osetra and Sevruga sturgeons. Trips overseas to Russia and Germany helped position his buying power, and Rod was able to private label Browne’s own line of wild caviars under the ASTARA Caviar label name. In the late 1990s, Browne Trading partnered with famed chef Daniel Boulud to exclusively private label his own line of caviars expressly selected and package by Browne Trading. Private label programs were also initiated with famed national purveyors Dean & Deluca and later Williams Sonoma. A committed Caviar Program complimented Browne’s growth and notoriety as a Seafood Company, doing more than just fresh fish.
Recognizing that the endangerment of caviar-producing wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Seas would eventually end the export of wild caviars under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), Rod set his sights early to begin to create relationships with reputable caviar aquaculturists around the world. This foresight positioned Browne to have access to the best farmed raised caviars in advance of the final closure and ban on wild products. Trips to farms in France and Germany helped Rod gain command of the processes and products, and through our sales force we were able to educate customers about these new products and champion this new direction in the caviar world. In late 2005, Browne Trading was pleased to introduce the first farm-raised Osetra to our customers. A thorough review of these “new” farm raised caviars in a December 2005 New York Times article helped consumers understand, accept and buy these products from Browne and ultimately secured our national position as a trusted purveyor of farmed caviars. By 2008, Browne Trading ceased to offer wild caviars and was exclusively selling only farm raised. Rod’s diligence and investment in forming relationships with producers from all over the world had led us to the forefront of this burgeoning industry.
Browne Trading is committed to offering our retail customers, wholesale/restaurant clientele and national distributors only the finest caviars the World has to offer.
