With the Russians from time to time cutting off gas supplies to the EU and Iran persisting with a controversial nuclear programme, neither country any longer is reckoned a reliable long-term source of that far more vital commodity for rich people: caviar. However, bad news from the shores of the Caspian Sea is good news for Englishman Alan Jones, co-owner of caviar producer Sturgeon, a company he set up in 1995 in the Charente-Maritime with fellow fisheries experts Jean and Claudia Boucher.

Their enterprise has become the biggest supplier of farmed caviar in France, its eight farms catering for leading chefs, specialist delicatessens and an increasing number of supermarkets. This was a bold project, because sturgeon need to reach the age of seven before they are physically mature enough to produce caviar, making this a long-term investment if ever there was one. However, after ten years in the business, Sturgeon now has an annual turnover of six million Euros and a staff that has grown from three initially to more than thirty. The taste of their caviar has steadily improved, so much that it is now difficult to distinguish it from the traditional, and increasingly expensive, Iranian and Russian product. The French company also sell sturgeon terrines, smoked sturgeon, truffle paste, salmon eggs, olive oil and of course the essential spirit to drink with the caviar, vodka.