Okayama-based Japanese caviar producer CHOZAMEYA plans to export to Malaysia and Singapore upon obtaining Halal certification on 9 May 2022. Learn about CHOZAMEYA’s caviar features and sturgeon farming from Mamoru Tanaka of the Sales and Product Planning Unit.

CHOZAMEYA farms sturgeon in Okayama Prefecture, producing and selling domestically sourced caviar.
Freshwater play a key role in the caviar’s rich flavour. Our aquaculture tanks are located in a tributary of the Osakabe River. The surrounding area has limestone-rich soil that dissolves limestone into the river, creating hard water (a rarity in Japan). The water quality is close to a European region known for its caviar, said to be suitable for sturgeon farming.

The Niimi Fishery Union (新見漁協), traditionally active in trout and ayu (sweetfish) farming, started sturgeon farming in 2000. As the fishery union could no longer continue the operation, our company took over in 2015 to keep the local industry alive.

After taking over the business, our first step was to manage the livestock; a system was in place to identify fish by tagging them and tracking their breeding years.
We doubled the number of tanks to increase the quantity of fish bred. In addition, we switched the main sturgeon species from Bester to Siberian sturgeon. Changing species allowed us to shorten the farming period from 7 years to about 5 years for egg harvesting.

The Siberian sturgeon we first bred are finally old enough to bear eggs, so we are now ready to ship around 100kg of caviar a year. We will increase our breeding capacity three times more than the current level in the future.
With our supply structure ready, we are pouring our efforts into e-commerce sales while developing our products on the side.
We are currently preparing to export to countries like Malaysia and Singapore, as we obtained Halal certification on 9 May 2022.

Made with top-quality Hokkaido butter and our fresh caviar, Caviar Butter is another new Halal-certified item.
It uses natural ingredients like tomatoes and chives to give a colourful macaroon-like finish.

What makes our caviar so unique is the exceptional taste and texture of the roe. Many people think “caviar” = “imported”, but imported caviar has a high salt content to prolong its life. Plus, some have a hard texture by heat processing.
Our caviar is preservative-free with a product selection containing as little salt as possible, at 3.5%. As ours finished without heat, you can savour every last bit of its FRESH goodness.

It takes 3 years after hatching to identify the sexes of sturgeon. After sex identification, we only keep females capable of producing caviar.
We try to reduce as much waste as possible. For example, we use the sturgeon–males and old females no longer capable of egg-producing–as ornamental fish, to create products with the fish meat, or cook them as ramen broth.

Sturgeon is part of a completely different family from sharks, belonging to a so-called ancient fish species. Although not well-known, sturgeon meat is rich in collagen, juicy, chewy, and very tasty. Because it is large, sturgeon makes an ideal foodstuff to compensate for the global protein shortage.
Looking ahead, we would like to develop products that make full use of its skin, internal organs and the like.

Caviar is a luxury ingredient that some people may not have eaten before. However, it tastes absolutely different from cheaper fish roe such as lumpfish caviar.
Our caviar is of top-class quality yet affordable. Not only does it make a great gift, but you can just indulge yourself with this luxurious delicacy to enjoy right at your home.

< Company Profile >
Company name: MS Farm Co., Ltd.
Head office: 2292 Karamatsu, Niimi, Okayama 718-0012
Business outline: Agricultural, Aquaculture, Fish processing
Official HP: CHOZAMEYA
Online shop: Konna no Do / CHOZAMEYA

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We have a network of Japanese companies keen to expand into the Halal market in Malaysia & Indonesia.
If you are interested in connecting with sustainable technology companies in Japan, simply JOIN the network from below. We will match the right one for you!