JEDDAH, 17 August 2004 — Come 2006 and it is going to be the winter of caviar in Saudi Arabia.
Thanks to Abdallah Othman Al-Faris, an adventurous entrepreneur, with deep faith and determination, the first caviar production in the Kingdom will likely begin in the winter of 2006.
Al-Faris, who was with the Saudi Arabian Airlines for seven years at a time when it was managed by TWA and ended up as regional manger for the Gulf and Far East, is the only farmer of Nile Tilapia in the region. It was his love for reading that led him to embark on a fish farm in Dammam where he lives, according to an article in the latest issue of the Arabian Knight magazine.
“I was reading about endangered species and discovered that the sturgeon was in that category,” he told the magazine.
“I am a reader and an applier and because I have a scientific mind and the basics in mathematics, I have been able to achieve a lot. I also was blessed with a great team and learned from my airline days to manage and delegate,” he said.
Al-Faris got in touch with the Russian Institute that has a program to replenish sturgeon in the Baltic. He established contacts with the Kitachins caviar producing family and urged them to visit Saudi Arabia to help set up the Middle East’s only caviar production facility.
Al-Faris went on to import fertilized eggs from Russia, and hatched them. The fish have now grown to about five kilograms. “We have to wait until the fish are at least 12 kilos when we can begin to harvest the roe right in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The facility includes air-conditioned warehouses with controlled water temperature and the right “stream” conditions.
The initial production will be five tons of Asetra Caviar (grade 1) per year. Al-Faris hopes to increase it to 15 tons, which would cover the total demand in the Kingdom.
