How to Choose Real Caviar Before the Holidays: Expert Discusses Fraud Risks
During the pre-holiday period, the number of offers for caviar at attractively low prices increases in the Ukrainian market, but experts warn: such products are often not real caviar and may be imitations or counterfeits.
This is reported by AgroReview
How to Distinguish Real Caviar from Counterfeits
The General Director of the Association of Ukrainian Fish and Seafood Importers, Dmytro Zahumenniy, draws consumers’ attention to the risks of purchasing counterfeit caviar.
“There are unscrupulous sellers who try to deceive consumers by offering them imitation caviar or counterfeit products disguised as real caviar. There are various methods of production, and they even seem to try to improve them from time to time, but this is not caviar in terms of its characteristics,” Zahumenniy warned.
According to the expert, the main advice when choosing red caviar for the holidays is to be cautious about prices that are too low. A cheap product is likely to be an imitation or counterfeit, as real caviar is traditionally quite expensive and cannot be priced too cheaply.
Where to Buy Caviar and Which Seafood is Most Popular in Ukraine
The specialist recommends purchasing caviar exclusively from specialized fish shops or large retail chains that adhere to quality standards. Zahumenniy emphasizes that all real caviar imported to Ukraine is transported frozen. In some sales points, it can be found frozen, while in others, it is already thawed and ready for consumption.
The main supplier countries of caviar for Ukraine are the USA (particularly Alaska) and Canada. European producers such as Denmark, Finland, and Norway, which supply trout caviar, are also popular. Meanwhile, herring is the most popular seafood among Ukrainian consumers.
Zahumenniy emphasizes that herring is the number one product in terms of consumption and import in Ukraine, and it is mostly imported from Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. The fish is caught in the North Sea and then exported to Ukraine.
Despite the challenges of wartime, Ukrainian tastes regarding seafood remain stable: the main assortment and volumes of seafood imports have hardly changed over the past few years.