PETRA AND SASKIA

Petra AND SaskiaBergstein PROVIDE CHAMPAGNE WISHES AND CAVIAR DREAMS

SINCE 2015, SISTERS PETRA AND SASKIA BERGSTEIN HAVE EMBRACED THE CAVIAR COMMUNITY BECOMING A TRUSTED PARTNER WITH SOME OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA’S TOP RESTAURANTS AND EATERIES AROUND THE COUNTRY.

kINTERVIEW WRITTEN AND CONDUCTED BY

WILLIAM JACKSON, ABA, B.ACY., MBA AND FOUNDER, CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER, AND PUBLISHER OF INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE, SPANISH INFLUENTIAL, AND TEEN INFLUENTIAL

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE CAVIAR CO. P etra’s experience with caviar first began with a job in the luxury food and hospitality industry, which led to working with a caviar wholesaler in the Bay Area.

Saskia, at the time, was running her own consulting firm and one of her clients included the caviar wholesaler where Petra worked. After making her sister’s company her solo client, the two decided to venture into the world of this luxury fish delicacy on their own, following sustainable practices.

In addition to working with restaurants and filling online orders, The Caviar Co. has a San Francisco storefront on Union Street and a newly opened Tiburon store as well. Petra is now the sole owner and runs the company’s day-to-day operations.

I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to chat with Petra about her family, thriving business, and all things caviar. I invite you into our conversation and hope you come away enlightened and inspired. Of course, you

Petra and Saskia Bergstein

may also learn more by visiting www.thecaviarco.com and following them on Instagram at @thecaviarco.

William Jackson: Petra, tell me about your family background? Petra Bergstein: I was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. We were raised in the same home as my mother was raised. My father is from Holland and met my mother when they were both going to school in Switzerland.

William: What is your professional background? Petra: In university, I studied Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences - dreaming of becoming an Audiologist working with acoustics or fitting hearing aids. Immediately after my college graduation, I moved to Carmel, California to live with my aunt and take an internship with Coastal Luxury Management, the event company that puts on L.A. Food & Wine as well as Pebble Beach Food & Wine. That opened my eyes to the culinary industry and the passion to work in hospitality. After my internship, I moved to San Francisco and got a job working for a local caviar company.

William: How did you get started in the business of caviar? Petra: When working for the first caviar company, I was fortunate to be involved in multiple aspects of the business ranging from marketing to sales. After sparking an interest in aquaculture and sustainable sturgeon farming, I went to work for a caviar farm for two years with a focus on marketing. I loved working for the farm but was aching to work with a more diverse range and variety of sturgeon species so my sister, Saskia, and I started The Caviar Co. where we’re able to provide a large range of caviar products and pricing.

William: What is the history of caviar? Petra: As many people know, caviar was once only the food fit for a Tsar’s indulgence but that hasn’t always been the case. There aren’t many historical references to caviar until the 11th and 12th centuries. Starting when the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches said sturgeon was suitable for fasting days during lent. The fish roe was much less expensive than meat so if people couldn’t afford meat, they would eat caviar.

William: What percentage of caviar is farm raised versus wild? Petra: Most caviar is farmed as that is the regulation. There’s only one species of sturgeon (Hackleback or Shovelnose) that can be wild caught and sold on the commercial market. There’s also a “cousin” to the sturgeon species that’s available (Paddlefish or Spoonbill). Aside from these two species, everything else must be farmed.

William: What region of the world is the largest producer of caviar today? Petra: Now, China is producing most of the world’s caviar but there are a great number of farms in our own backyard in northern California as well.

William: To my mind, nothing says luxury quite like caviar. It’s the perfect food for celebrations or just serious indulging. What makes caviar so prized? Petra: We like to say there’s a caviar for every day of the week. For example, if you had a rough start to the week and just need some self-love; Hackleback is a great way to treat yourself without breaking the bank. It’s an amazing product at a really good price. For Wednesday, you need to celebrate making it over hump-day, our

Classic White Sturgeon is just the ticket. It’s creamy, buttery, and easy to enjoy. I can keep going through the rest of the week but when you get to your Saturday night caviar or special occasion caviar, we save that for our Russian Osetra. It’s our most rich caviar as it’s coming from one of the older fish, so it has a lot of depth and decadence. The age of the fish when harvested for caviar has a lot to do with the price and quality.

William: What’s the entry price point for caviar? Petra: For a black caviar, meaning the eggs are coming from a sturgeon, the entry price point should be around $40/oz.

William: What age of caviar do you recommend? Petra: Something to lookout for is the age of the caviar versus the age of the fish when it is harvested. As mentioned earlier, typically, the older the sturgeon is when harvested, the richer, decadence, and depth the caviar has. However, that’s not the same for caviar. We believe caviar should have a shelf life of four to six weeks. Any longer, than you want to look out for pasteurization and preservatives. We believe the only thing that should be added to caviar is salt.

William: How is caviar enjoyed best? Petra: Keep it simple. When tasting through caviar, we eat it right off the back of our hand. That’s the oldest and most traditional way of tasting caviar. I also love it on top of fingerling potatoes with a small dollop of crème fraiche and chives. William: With vodka or champagne? Petra: Both. I believe it depends on the evening and what kind of night you’re looking to have. They both work so well. For instance, vodka is the perfect pairing as it really cuts through the salinity of the caviar while the caviar breaks through the acidity of the vodka. It’s truly a team pairing where both contribute to the overall experience. On the other hand, I love champagne. From the second you hear and feel that POP of the bottle, your senses start flowing and you know you’re going to have a great time.

William: How do you describe the tasting experience? Petra: There’s so much history to caviar and additional background knowledge to know from how to properly taste, what to look for, how to grade, and red flags to watch for. We love the tasting experiences because it allows us to touch on every part of caviar we love so much. It’s also wonderful getting to taste different types of caviar, side by side, to learn what your individual preferences are so you know what to look for when you next purchase caviar.

William: Do you recommend caviar be enjoyed best when complemented with lemons, capers, or eggs?

Petra: Although the traditional accoutrement makes for a great tableside presentation, we don’t recommend using strong ingredients to complement. Not with our caviar at least. We believe caviar should never be too fishy or salty. If your caviar is fresh and transported correctly, you wouldn’t want those overpowering flavors in the mix. Historically, those items came into use way back when they were transporting caviar from Russia to France without cooled trucks. By the time the caviar arrived in France, the caviar was spoiled so chefs brought in ingredients with such strong characteristics to mask bad caviar.

William: What is your opinion on whether caviar should be enjoyed with silver? Petra: I believe if the eggs are kept cool, how it’s served shouldn’t matter too much as long as you’re enjoying yourself. Don’t sweat the small stuff and remember you’re enjoying it for yourself and no one else. We do tend to use the traditional mother of pearl spoons when serving the caviar only because, sometimes, if a silver spoon is left in the caviar tin, it could taint the caviar and make the eggs taste metallic. Otherwise, we’re honestly not too picky.

William: How do you describe working with family? Petra: It’s a blessing and a challenge at the same time. I can truly say I get so excited going to work every day, but I also can’t get home fast enough to catch the last hours with my daughter before her bedtime. I feel so fortunate to have the support of my husband who helps in every way possible as well. He has more talents than I can count and is always helping our team, whether it’s lugging items from storage, hanging shelves, or helping with construction on a new location. There isn’t much he can’t do and even less he won’t do for us. I also consider my work team as family, so I’m in a winning position all around filled with a lot of support and love from all angles in my life.

William: You started The Caviar Co., with your talented sister Saskia. Tell us what thrills you most about The Caviar Co.? Petra: We’re growing continuously and evolving, and each day is different from the last. We’ve come a long way since starting our business in our tiny San Francisco apartment five years ago and seeing this second location come to fruition is a monumental step for The Caviar Co.

William: What are aspects of your sister, personal and/or professional, which you enjoy most? Petra: We completely get each other. Without Saskia, I believe the dream of The Caviar Co. would’ve likely stayed just that. Saskia was the one who helped put all the gears in motion and helped get us established as a legal and legitimate business in San Francisco. Being a CPA, she knew exactly what we needed to do to get started and form a company. We were the perfect pair when we got started as I was the marketing/sales guru and she handled the finances. We were like a yin yang.

William: In response to this same question, what do you believe Saskia would say about you? Petra: I believe Saskia would say something similar in how we were the perfect pair to start a business together. She would also likely mention how passionate (and possibly obsessive) I was when getting the company started. Saskia is my older sister and we’ve always been extremely close. She would also likely mention anything she does, I want to do and be a part of.

William: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected The Caviar Co.? Petra: Like many other small businesses, the 2020 pandemic has certainly affected us and put forth some of the largest decisions I’ve had to make in my career. There was a moment where I thought - this is it; how can we possibly make it through this? But we made a huge pivot right at the beginning of shelter in place to fight for what we love to do. As early as March, we shifted to offer virtual caviar tasting as well as free delivery throughout San Francisco. This was a big milestone for us and was an exciting turn of events. We love doing the virtual tasting and connected with people all over the country who also enjoy caviar.

William: How does The Caviar Co. provide unsurpassed caviar collections with quality, integrity, and sustainability? Petra: All three items in our mission statement have meaning to us and we have vowed to run The Caviar Co. by these values. Quality is about the service we provide to our customers and of course, the exceptional quality of our caviar products. Integrity has to do the way we chose to conduct our business. Unfortunately, this characteristic is something that can lack in our industry and we’ve made a promise to ourselves, and our customers, to never trade integrity for profit. We’ll never mislabel or mislead our product. Last, sustainability is imperative for the future of our industry. We’ll only work with farms that have their own brood stock and never take anything from the wild if it’s not legal.

William: Are you able to provide insight into expansion plans for The Caviar Co.? Petra: The Caviar & Champagne Tasting Room in Tiburon is a huge step for the future of The Caviar Co. We love to have a platform where we can talk to more people about caviar and educate on something we’re so passionate about. We hope to continue that education near and far whether it’s in person or virtually.

William: With all the pressures of operating a successful specialty company and the outside activities you do, what is your secret in terms of keeping your focus and even your sanity? Petra: If you talk to my husband, he might say my sanity ran out the door a few years ago. All jokes aside, the people in my life are my secret to success. Without a supportive family and team, we wouldn’t be in this position.

William: How do you define success? Petra: I believe my definition of success changes almost weekly as my work and personal goals evolve continuously. I try to celebrate the small wins whether that’s leaving the office with under 50 emails in my inbox at the end of the day, hitting our sales goals, or marking a lot of items off of my to-do list.

William: How do you define happiness? Petra: Earlier, I mentioned how grateful I am for the enthusiasm I feel when going into work and the excitement I feel when driving home to my family. I believe that sums up my definition of happiness right there.

William: How are you living your best life? Petra: I have a job I love where I get paid to eat caviar and drink champagne on a regular basis. Then I get to go home to a loving husband and a funny, spunky, and bossy baby girl. l