A FAMILY that has created the only ethical caviar farm in the world in North Yorkshire is showcasing its achievements in its first year of trade.

KC Caviar was incorporated in 2012, but only started selling its Yorkshire produced delicacy this year.

The business is a family venture which farms around 300 sturgeon fish on a site in South Milford, near Selby.

It is now in the running to be named among the finalists of the New Business of the Year and Socially Responsible Business of the Year categories.

The business is the only firm in the world to operate under the licence of a patented process for extracting eggs for caviar, without the need to kill the fish, as per the normal practice.

Director John Addey said: “The Caviar we produce is made from living sturgeon which will produce Caviar for the next 15-20 years before being released in to conservation lakes around the world, for a long happy retirement. In contrast with what other farms do.

“KC is in fact leading the world in Ethical and Sustainable Caviar production.

“Working from an old mushroom farm based in South Milford, we have attracted investment from sympathetic private individuals from around the world.

“This enabled us to perfect a patented process which enables excellent quality Caviar to be produced from naturally spawned eggs.

“We sell Caviar to restaurants across Yorshire and the North of England and also nationally through the Aldi Supermarket group.”

Local chefs using KC Caviar include Andrew Pern and Tommy Banks.

The business has recently welcomed investment from German-based life science consultancy Ensymm to help it increase its market share and in turn step up production.

Alongside the investment, KC Caviar welcomed Ensymm’s managing director Dr Pedram Dehdari. Dr Dehdari was shown around the farm’s polytunnels which house the fish, and feature climate controls to mimic the different seasons in the wild. He described the firm as having a “unique place in the market”, not just in the UK but globally.