ELVERTA, Calif. – STERLING CAVIAR Royal Grade has won the Product of the Year as part of the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) 2022 sofi™ Awards, a top honor in the $170.4 billion specialty food industry. This award followed Sterling Caviar’s win, last month, of the sofi™ Gold Award in the Seafood Category. This the first time in the history of the sofi™ Awards where caviar, as a first-time entry, has taken home the top Gold Award in the Seafood Category and Product of the Year.
Sterling Caviar Royal Grade was one of 102 winners—eventually taking the coveted top prize–selected by a panel of specialty food experts from nearly 2,000 entries across 53 product categories. Products are judged on taste, including flavor, appearance, texture and aroma, ingredient quality, and innovation. All tastings are anonymous and are held at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center.
“We are honored that Sterling Caviar ROYAL Grade has won a Gold Award in the Seafood Category, and also the prestigious Product of the Year Award,” says Myra Tallerico, General Manager/COO of Sterling Caviar. “This is a true testament to the commitment and pride our entire staff have in producing a quality product. We have such a hard-working team and it’s very humbling to know that our product is appreciated. Winning both these two awards within weeks of each other is the ultimate stamp of approval and we’re very grateful. We thank the Specialty Food Association for this amazing honor.” Sterling Caviar ROYAL Grade can be found at www.sterlingcaviar.com.
The sofi™ Awards are open to members of the SFA and have been given each year since 1972. Winners were showcased at the 2022 Summer Fancy Food Show, that ran June 12-14, at the Javits Center in New York City. Open only to the trade, it is the largest East Coast B2B-only specialty food and beverage show. For more information, visit specialtyfood.com.About STERLING CAVIAR
Sterling Caviar is the largest producer of caviar in the U.S. They offer an environmentally friendly and sustainable way of producing caviar that has helped reduce the pressure on wild sturgeon stocks. In 1988, the Company became the first commercial sturgeon farming operation in California, and in 1993, the first farm-raised caviar in the world was processed and produced on their farm! They are recognized by Monterey Bay Aquarium as a Seafood Watch “Best Choice”. They originally sourced the White Sturgeon from the Sacramento River, but in 1994, the team worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the University of California – Davis to develop an environmentally responsible brood stock program and replaced all the wild fish it borrowed from the river.
Today, Sterling Caviar maintains an online store that introduces customers to top-quality caviar. Its rich flavors, ethical farming, and friendly service have impressed people across the U.S. The team has a lot of pride in being the pioneer of culturing sustainability of the White Sturgeon. All the White Sturgeon fish they process/sell have been raised on their northern California farms! Their caviar is packed fresh from the farm and sent by overnight delivery. Their farm-to-fork system eliminates the middleman. The Company maintains a good reputation in the culinary community because of its high-integrity and high-quality approach to caviar production. They do not cut corners or settle for second-rate. Their fish biologists can trace each product back to an individual sturgeon and they’re able to tell customers which tanks it swam in, what it was fed, when it was hatched, and who its parents were. That transparency and traceability is unmatched in the industry.
Sterling Caviar came under new ownership in October 2020 when Eugene Fernandez acquired the Company and put together a management team that transformed the Company. Since then, Sterling Caviar has focused on ensuring the quality of their products and the integrity of the Company.
About the Specialty Food Association
The Specialty Food Association (SFA) has been the leading trade association and source of information about the $170.4 billion specialty food industry for 70 years. Founded in 1952 in New York City, the SFA represents manufacturers, importers, retailers, distributors, brokers, and others in the trade. The SFA is known for its Fancy Food Shows; the sofi™ Awards, which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage for 50 years; the Trendspotter Panel Show reports and annual predictions; the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report and Today’s Specialty Food Consumer research; the ecommerce enabled SFA Product Marketplace, where members showcase products and sell directly to qualified buyers; SFA Feed, the daily source for industry news, trends and new product information, and Spill & Dish: A Specialty Food Association Podcast.
