For Tsar Nicoulai, the result of that effort has been award-winning sustainable caviar and smoked white sturgeon meat. UC Davis is also helping the company take its next eco-friendly step. Tsar Nicoulai is the first caviar farm in the world to produce food in an aquaponics system, which is a complete ecosystem that includes growing fish, plants and bacteria.

“One of our best caviars is the closest thing to a sustainable beluga sturgeon, that unctuous freshly salted farm butter flavor, the foie gras of the sea,” said Ali Bolourchi, the vice president of farm operations for Tsar Nicoulai Caviar and UC Davis Graduate School of Management alumnus.

Bolourchi often speaks like a chef, since he spends much of his day promoting the virtues of his caviar to some of the nation’s finest restaurants and retailers.

Caviar is a quality-based item, said Bolourchi, not a commodity. “It’s never been about how many tons we can produce. For us, it’s about how you can do a better job for the fish, for the land and ultimately produce outstanding caviar,” he said.