Caviar company uses booze to woo Shanghai's rich
Black Pearl Caviar is on the lips -- literally and figuratively -- of Shanghai's moneyed class. Just don't tell them it's made in China.You’d be forgiven for thinking that, when it comes to food, the Shanghainese are conspicuous consumers. But in most images of a Chinese banquet, one of the true Western signs of opulent dining is absent: caviar.
When the Shanghai’s affluent are out to impress, they reach for shark’s fin and abalone. Caviar is not even an afterthought.
But a team of ex-admen who founded Black Pearl Caviar are seeking to prove that if you put it on the menu, they will come -- in droves.
Caviar, they say, is the last word in edible luxury -- and they wager the Chinese will agree.
Black Pearl enters Shanghai menus
Steve Hinchliffe and Toby Collins are the founders of Black Pearl Caviar, a local brand of sturgeon roe that is selling steadily as the scions of rich Shanghai discover the taste of caviar.
Close to 60kg of Black Pearl have been sold since the company launched eight months ago.
“The majority of places that are suitable in Shanghai to carry it are carrying it,” says Hinchliffe, referring to his clients on the Bund and beyond as he empties a spoonful of caviar onto the stretch of skin between our thumb and forefinger and pours a glass of cognac. “Go on,” he says.
The French have always preferred their caviar with Champagne; the Russians have it with vodka, naturally. But when Hinchliffe and Collins launched Black Pearl they took inspiration from Chivas Regal's marketing playbook in China; the Scotch whisky really took off in China when promoters paired it with a local failsafe: green tea.
Black Pearl is looking to localize caviar in a similar way.
“The Chinese love cognac,” says Hinchliffe. “One of the biggest sellers in [karaoke clubs] is cognac. We wanted to create a Chinese way of consuming caviar, so we’re pairing it with something they’re used to.”
The team won over high-end Shanghai clubs like Bar Rouge and M1NT that cater to the Chinese elite, with tastings featuring shots of Remy Martin. Hotels like the new Waldorf Astoria also came on board -- though most guests there prefer it on white toast with bubbly.
The Chinese love cognac. One of the biggest sellers in [karaoke clubs] is cognac. We wanted to create a Chinese way of consuming caviar, so we’re pairing it with something they’re used to.— Steve Hinchliffe, co-founder of Black Pearl Caviar
A domestic product, only now for the domestic market
Black Pearl Caviar is the only sturgeon roe on the market in China. And though you won’t read as much on the tin -- “Some might say ‘Made in China’ has a bad reputation,” says Hinchliffe -- it’s also 100 percent Chinese, sourced from the Tianxia sturgeon farm in Hubei, which exports four tons of caviar a year to Europe and the Middle East.
That makes current Chinese demand look like a rounding error. But then again, Shanghai has a growing share of its champions.
Dane Clouston, executive chef at Jing’an Restaurant, says guests are “desperate” to try it when they notice it on the menu, after hearing about it for years without any access.
“I decided to put it on the menu mainly because I like to eat caviar personally,” says Clouston, “and think everyone should have that luxury of being able to eat caviar whenever they like.”
Jing’an sells about 100 tins of caviar a month, at RMB 360 for 10g.
Talos Zhaosong, 29, an entrepreneur who manufactures tobacco filters, got hooked two years ago after trying it at Laris, but these days he orders it by the 50g tin at the Hilton’s Penthouse Bar. “Personally, I just love the taste,” he says. “I’ll eat it right out of the tin with a spoon before dinner.”
Over a 10g tin of caviar with toast, Jing says the restaurant goes through more than 100g a week at teatime alone.
“Before people were a bit tentative to try it, but the ladies come it and want it with pink Champagne,” he says. “Today two ladies took two 10g tins and two bottles of rosé wine. They like it because it’s not too much to eat, and it’s healthy.”
The health benefits, much publicized in the West, are gravy to Hinchliffe and Collins. Beauty brands like La Prairie and Kerastase are already pushing caviar’s anti-ageing qualities, and Black Pearl hopes to join them next year with a line of face creams.
For now, however, demand rests with the young and wealthy. “They’re more open to trying new things,” says Jing.
Luckily there will always be young, wealthy customers in Shanghai. Because the chances of caviar trickling down to the middle classes are, Hinchliffe admits, “exactly the same as everywhere else in the world. Very unlikely.”
