The Next Superfood: Caviar with Imperia Caviar

Caviar as the next coconut water? A superfood for the wellness masses out there?

I couldn't believe it when I first heard it. What came to my mind first when I was told to write about caviar was tuxes, monocles and mansions, not the biggest health food trend coming to the wellness community since avocado toast.

That all changed when I had the pleasure of speaking with Sony Mordechai, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Santa Monica, CA based Imperia Caviar. Sony founded Imperia in 2018 with a vision of making caviar more than just an elite luxury delicacy. While Imperia will still have top tier caviar for those already appreciating caviar, Sony plans to dramatically shake up the caviar space in the next few years by creating a variety of brands that will cater to the wellness community.

Why? Well, that's where my expertise comes in. Let's put the price aside for just a little, but nutritionally, caviar has lots of vitamin B12, arginine, loads of omega 3's, iron, calcium, vitamin d, and very bioavailable vitamin A. All of these nutrients packed into a low calorie, easy to consume package, and is keto and paleo friendly.

Now, let's address the elephant in the room: price. Affordability has been the main barrier to entry for people to enjoy this apparent superfood.

Historically, caviar has retailed for $4-6 per gram, making it an unrealistic addition to the diet, and making me envision caviar as an enjoyment reserved for royalty. With Imperia, the price per gram is getting close to the $1 per gram range, and still tastes amazing.

The analogy that comes to my mind is that there will always be a need for the Rolls Royce's of the world, but also the Honda Civics. Both great cars, offering different benefits to different crowds, and a much different scale of production. Sony plans to bring the same scalability to caviar, and introduce 'wellness' brands of caviars to consumers worldwide over the next few years.

On the topic of scalability, Sony told me something that really made me happy. Too many times, I've looked into industries that have scaled by cutting corners and using synthetics and chemicals to bring costs down. Sony said that aside from the customer, the fish is the most important thing to take care of throughout the supply chain. "The happier the fish, the tastier the product."

He really does care about the sustainability of this, telling me that his company promises no antibiotics, and will try to keep as close to nature as possible for these fish.

Lastly, I should mention the taste of the product. I've only ever had caviar once before trying Imperia, but my wife has had it dozens of times. She and I both felt like the Imperia (in this case the Royal Ossetra) had all the same taste, mouthfeel, and freshness as the other brands we've tried, at a fraction of the price.

We tried it straight out of the tin, but my personal favorite was with some persian lavash bread.

With Imperia, Sony has already proven that his production model is scalable which is already bringing costs down, without sacrificing taste and quality. Continuing to apply the scaling model to different brands, and it sounds like something matching an olive oil club, where the customer is shipped samples of different brands to try and then can subscribe to specific brands they love based on personal preference.

With all of the nutritional benefits to caviar, especially to those that are paleo or keto inclined, it seems like this could be a no brainer to add to a food rotation as a superfood, rather than reaching for another bottle of omega 3 supplements.

You can find out more about Imperia at https://imperiacaviar.com/, or find out more on their instagram @imperiacaviar.

Omid Vojdani is a health and wellness expert with over 10 years of hands on experience focusing on injury rehabilitation, postural alignment therapy, relationship counseling, and spiritual growth. You can find more info at succeedwithomid.com