In-Depth Analysis of Investment Opportunities in China's Caviar Industry

China has quietly emerged as the world’s largest caviar producer and exporter, accounting for more than 60% of the global market share [1]. This achievement marks a historic breakthrough for China’s high-end aquaculture industry. As the industry leader, Hangzhou Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology Co., Ltd. has ranked first in global caviar sales for 10 consecutive years since 2015, with a market share of 35.4% in 2024, more than five times that of the second-largest enterprise [2]. The formation of this market landscape stems from multiple factors: first, around 2000, major global consumer markets successively legislated to ban wild caviar trade, creating market space for farmed caviar; second, China seized this industrial transfer opportunity with high-quality water resources and mature aquaculture technology.

Caviar, as one of the world’s three top-tier delicacies, is on par with foie gras and truffles, and is known as the “Black Gold”. According to the definition of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, caviar specifically refers to roe taken from mature female sturgeon, processed, and preserved with a small amount of salt. Global caviar consumption nearly reached 2,000 tons at its peak in 1997, but due to the decline of wild sturgeon resources, the current global consumption scale is only about 600-700 tons, leaving considerable room for growth [3].

Recently, Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, lifting the veil of this “Caviar King”. The prospectus shows that the company’s revenue increased from RMB 491 million in 2022 to RMB 669 million in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7%; net profit rose from RMB 234 million to RMB 324 million, with a CAGR of 17.8% [2]. More notably, its profitability is staggering: the net profit margin reached 58.31% in the first half of 2025, surpassing Kweichow Moutai’s 49.89% net profit margin in the same period [1]. The company’s EBITDA increased from RMB 307 million in 2022 to RMB 443 million in 2024, with a CAGR of 20.1%.

In terms of sales volume, the company’s caviar sales increased from 195.9 tons in 2022 to 258.3 tons in 2024, reaching 141.1 tons in the first half of 2025 [4]. The company’s products have been exported to 46 countries and regions, with overseas sales accounting for 79.8% of total revenue in 2022, rising to 80.9% in H1 2025. The EU and the US are the main overseas markets, consuming 255.5 tons and 196.4 tons of caviar respectively in 2024, accounting for 35% and 26.9% of the global total [1].

The success of the Qiandao Lake model first stems from its unique industry-university-research integration structure of “research institutes + local state-owned enterprises + core teams”. Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology was established in 2003 under the guidance of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, with its founding team mainly coming from the Sturgeon Breeding Technology Engineering Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences. Its founder, Wang Bin, has over 30 years of experience in the caviar industry [4]. The company’s senior management has an average of more than 20 years of experience in sturgeon farming and caviar processing, and many members have participated in the formulation of multiple industry standards.

In 2000, the company’s team mastered sturgeon artificial breeding technology, and in 2006 produced China’s first can of farmed caviar that meets international standards. To maintain technological leadership, the company established an enterprise research institute in 2020, with Academician Gui Jianfang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences appointed as the first dean, and 7 research offices including genetic breeding, aquaculture technology, ecological environmental protection, smart fishery, disease prevention and control, quality standards, and new product processing set up under it [3].

As sub-cold water fish, sturgeons mostly live in alpine, high-latitude regions, and have strict requirements on water quality and temperature. The suitable breeding temperature is generally between 15-25℃; if the temperature exceeds 28℃, sturgeons will develop diseases or die. In the early 1990s, the Qindeli Acipenser schrenckii Breeding and Release Test Station in Heilongjiang took the lead in carrying out the “Northern Sturgeon, Southern Farming” experiment, transporting fry by air to southern regions such as Huaiyin, Jiangsu for breeding, verifying that the water temperature in the south is more conducive to sturgeon growth [3].

In 2003, Wang Bin moved the breeding base from Beijing to Hangzhou’s Qiandao Lake, but in the summer of 2005, they encountered the highest temperature in 60 years, resulting in the death of half of the 50,000 sturgeons. To solve the water temperature problem, the team built large cement pools in Qiandao Lake, pumping cold water from the bottom of the reservoir to on-land summer pools, supplemented by liquid nitrogen cooling, and the sturgeon survival rate gradually recovered. In 2009, the team found the banks of the Wuxi River in Quzhou, which has first-class water quality, sufficient water volume, and a year-round water temperature of 10-25℃, and began to build Asia’s largest caviar processing plant [3].

After more than 20 years of development, Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology has built a full-industry-chain system covering sturgeon genetic breeding and farming, caviar processing, sales, and brand marketing. The company has deployed 8 sturgeon breeding bases in areas such as Qiandao Lake and Wuxi River in Zhejiang, and Zhelin Lake in Jiangxi, and has established two processing bases in Quzhou, Zhejiang and Zhelin Lake, Jiangxi, with a sturgeon stock of 14,000 tons [4].

In the breeding link, the company realizes real-time monitoring of key data such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH value, and ammonia nitrogen content, and realizes fully automated breeding in links such as feeding, water intake, water change, and oxygenation based on data. In the processing link, 16 procedures including “ice stunning”, “ovary extraction via laparotomy”, “drainage”, “impurity removal”, “can pressing”, and “ripening” must be completed within 15 minutes [3]. The company’s well-known caviar brand “KALUGA QUEEN” exclusively supplies products for first-class cabins of major international airlines such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific, while also serving top cruise operators. Its products are widely supplied to many Michelin-starred restaurants around the world and have been selected for the Oscars dinner [2].

The Qiandao Lake model has certain feasibility for replication in other regions, mainly based on the following conditions:

Replication Factor	Assessment Description
Water Resource Requirements	Requires high-quality cold water resources with a year-round temperature of 10-25℃; large reservoirs such as Wuxi River and Qiandao Lake meet this condition
Technical Threshold	Sturgeon farming requires a cycle of 7-15 years, with high technical barriers, making it difficult for ordinary enterprises to enter in the short term
Capital Threshold	High initial investment and long payback period; it is an industry “that rich people don’t want to do, and people without money can’t do”
Policy Support	Ecological fishery is a green agriculture encouraged by the state, and can receive policy support

Currently, Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology has launched a replication plan in Ya’an, Sichuan. The first phase of the Sichuan Yingjing Sturgeon Ecological Breeding Park, covering an area of more than 200 mu, is under construction [3]. Ya’an, Sichuan has already contributed 12% of global caviar output, becoming an important second production area.

Although the Qiandao Lake model has certain replicability, it faces multiple challenges in actual promotion:

1. Biological Asset Risk
   : Sturgeon farming has an extremely long cycle, taking 7-12 years or even longer from breeding to egg extraction. During this period, any natural disaster may affect the company. In July 2024, Liaoning Sturgeon Technology, a subsidiary of Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology, suffered from summer floods, resulting in abnormal sturgeon deaths. The fair value of biological assets decreased by RMB 24.879 million, and the gross profit margin dropped from 1.3% in 2023 to -2.9% [1].

2. Difficulty in Market Development
   : The company was repeatedly rejected when initially exploring the international market. It was not until 2011 that it won recognition from Lufthansa after defeating traditional caviar-producing countries such as Russia, France, and Iran in a blind tasting. Brand building and market recognition require long-term accumulation.

3. International Trade Risk
   : The company has a high degree of dependence on overseas markets, with overseas sales accounting for 80.9% of total revenue in H1 2025. After the US raised tariffs, the company’s caviar exported to the US faced cost increase pressure, leading to a short-term reduction in orders from US customers and squeezed profit margins [1].

The promotion of the Qiandao Lake model is not only reflected in capacity expansion, but also in the replication of the industry common prosperity mechanism. Through the “company + base + standardization” model, the company provides fry to surrounding farmers, signs sturgeon repurchase agreements, and provides technical guidance. At the Quzhou base, the company has expanded a 1,000-mu sturgeon breeding base, attracting and driving more than 150 surrounding farmers to increase their annual income by more than RMB 6 million [3]. In Xiangchundi Village, Shishi Township, under the leadership of Village Party Branch Secretary Wu Huajun, a square pond was built, fry were purchased from Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology, and the city’s first sturgeon-themed fishery homestay was established. About 60,000 sturgeons are bred here, and it receives 400-500 tourists a day during the peak season [3].

According to 2024 industry data, major listed companies in China’s aquaculture industry include Baiyang Co., Ltd., Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd., Great Lake Co., Ltd., Haodangjia Co., Ltd., Zhangzidao Group Co., Ltd., and Tongwei Co., Ltd. The performance in the first three quarters of 2023 shows that Tongwei Co., Ltd. leads by a large margin with a revenue of RMB 111.4 billion, followed by Guolian Aquatic Products with RMB 3.972 billion, but there is a clear divergence in net profit performance [5].

Company	Revenue in the First Three Quarters of 2023	YoY Growth	Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders	YoY Growth
Tongwei Co., Ltd.	RMB 111.4 billion	9.15%	RMB 16.3 billion	-24.98%
Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd.	RMB 3.972 billion	0.59%	-RMB 235.2 million	-552.58%
Zhangzidao Group Co., Ltd.	RMB 1.281 billion	-15.51%	RMB 24.81 million	833.08%
Haodangjia Co., Ltd.	RMB 1.069 billion	12.31%	RMB 36.87 million	-27.75%
Baiyang Co., Ltd.	RMB 1.973 billion	-16.94%	RMB 8.565 million	-86.67%
Great Lake Co., Ltd.	RMB 873 million	-12.55%	RMB 2.347 million	-12.55%

From the successful experience of Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology, the high-quality development of the aquaculture industry requires attention to the following investment themes:

: The success of the caviar industry proves the possibility of Chinese manufacturing breaking into the high-end market. Academician Xue Changhu of the Chinese Academy of Engineering pointed out that the processing path of aquatic products is gradually upgrading from “primary product processing - enough to eat” to “deep product processing - eat well”, and then to “nutritional quality processing - eat healthily” [6]. Investors should pay attention to enterprises with high-end product R&D capabilities.

: The full-industry-chain model of Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology has effectively increased added value and bargaining power. In contrast, traditional aquaculture enterprises are mostly based on scattered individual operation models, with few large-scale enterprises [5]. Enterprises with industry chain integration capabilities have more competitive advantages.

: Technological innovations such as facility fishery, intelligent breeding, and cold chain logistics are reshaping the industry landscape. The market size of aquatic prepared dishes is expected to reach RMB 257.6 billion in 2026 [5], and deep processing capabilities will become an important part of enterprises’ core competitiveness.

Industry Chain Link	Investment Heat	Growth Potential	Key Focus Areas
Upper Stream (Fry/Feed)	75	70	High-quality fry breeding, special feed R&D
Mid Stream (Breeding)	60	55	Ecological breeding, smart fishery, industrialized breeding
Lower Stream (Processing/Sales)	90	95	Deep processing of prepared dishes, brand operation, high-end ingredients
Supporting (Logistics/Equipment)	70	65	Cold chain logistics, intelligent breeding equipment

The lower stream processing and sales link has the best investment value due to high added value and large brand premium space. Brand operation in segmented fields of high-end aquatic products such as caviar, sea cucumber, and Chinese mitten crab deserves key attention.

1. Biological Asset Risk
   : Long-cycle breeding varieties such as sturgeons are affected by uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters and diseases, and fluctuations in the value of biological assets may have a significant impact on corporate performance.

2. International Trade Risk
   : Enterprises highly dependent on overseas markets face multiple risks such as tariff changes, exchange rate fluctuations, and trade policy changes. More than 80% of Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology’s revenue in 2024 came from overseas, and changes in US tariff policies have already affected the company’s operations [1].

3. Single Product Structure Risk
   : Caviar products contribute more than 90% of Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology’s revenue. In the event of changes in market consumption trends or food safety incidents, the company will face a significant impact [1].

4. Market Competition Risk
   : Although the current industry concentration is high, with technological progress and capital entry, more competitors may enter the high-end aquatic products field.

: Focus on traditional aquaculture leaders with stable cash flow and valuation advantages, such as Haodangjia and Zhangzidao, and pay attention to their valuation repair opportunities brought by transformation and upgrading.

: Focus on leading enterprises in the prepared dishes track, such as Guolian Aquatic Products and Baiyang Co., Ltd., to seize the industry dividends brought by the rapid growth of the aquatic prepared dishes market.

: Focus on investment opportunities in the high-end aquatic products field, including the caviar industry and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange IPO of Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology (if successfully listed), as well as enterprises with high-end product R&D capabilities and brand operation capabilities.

: It is recommended that investors adopt a portfolio allocation strategy, dividing aquaculture sector investment into three parts: traditional breeding leaders (40%), prepared dish processing enterprises (35%), and high-end ingredients and innovative enterprises (25%). While seizing the overall growth of the industry, appropriately allocate to high-growth segmented tracks.

The rise of China’s caviar industry is a microcosm of China’s high-end aquaculture industry developing from scratch, and catching up to leading the world. The core of the Qiandao Lake model lies in: based on technical support from research institutes, relying on high-quality cold water resources, supported by full-industry-chain operations, and breaking through with brand operations, it has achieved a successful breakthrough of Chinese manufacturing in the international high-end ingredients market.

Looking forward, the replication and promotion of the Qiandao Lake model in areas such as Ya’an, Sichuan will further consolidate China’s leading position in the global caviar industry. According to the company’s plan, in the next 5 years, it will invest in areas such as aquaculture and capacity expansion, technical upgrading of existing breeding and processing bases, brand marketing activities, and expansion of global sales channels [2]. With capacity expansion and increased brand influence, China’s caviar industry is expected to occupy a larger share in the global market.

For listed aquaculture companies, the success of the caviar industry provides important insights: high-endization, branding, and full-industry-chain integration are the key paths to realize value enhancement. Against the background of consumption upgrading, enterprises with technological innovation capabilities and brand operation capabilities will gain greater development space.

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[1] China.com Finance - “Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology Files for Hong Kong IPO: A Bowl of Caviar with Higher Net Profit Margin Than Kweichow Moutai” (https://finance.china.com/IPO/13004694/20251209/49058663.html)

[2] 21st Century Business Herald - “Global No.1 in Caviar Sales, Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology Sprints for Hong Kong IPO, Failed Three Times to List on A-Shares” (https://www.21jingji.com/article/20251104/herald/405bc966019c07117e428f9cc10b8807.html)

[3] Securities Times - “One-Third of Global Caviar Comes from a Mountain Village in Zhejiang: How to Replicate This ‘Profitable Business’?” (https://www.stcn.com/article/detail/1104959.html)

[4] Sina Finance - “Qiandao Lake Sturgeon Technology Challenges for ‘First Caviar Stock on Hong Kong Stock Exchange’, Supplies One-Third of Global Caviar” (https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/hkstock/hkzmt/2025-10-31/doc-infvtweu7119257.shtml)

[5] Qianzhan Industry Research Institute - “Comprehensive Comparison of Listed Companies in the Aquaculture Industry in 2024” (https://www.qianzhan.com/analyst/detail/220/241105-b18e6778.html)

[6] The Beijing News - “From Rapid Expansion to Slowdown, How to Seek Change in the Stable Period of the Aquatic Products Industry?” (https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1764478406168961.html)

[7] The Paper - “A More ‘Profitable’ Business Than Moutai, Needs to Tell a New Story Through IPO” (https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31956132)