Agroittica Lombarda

Agroittica was born to experiment new forms of aquaculture and set the standards in this area.We perfected our products by reaching new quality goals, applied the knowledge acquired in fourty years by breeding White and Siberian Sturgeon.Our passion and expertise have been decisive in overcoming every difficulty encountered in a 12-year production cycle, the time needed to refine the quality of our caviar.The history of Agroittica begins with a project that was groundbreaking for its times. In 1972, Giovanni Tolettini and Gino Ravagnan imagined a way to take advantage of the residual heat of a steel plant, under construction at the time, in order to breed highly commercial fish.Two brilliant people with different backgrounds merged their skills to design an integrated production system.Calvisano (BS), rich in high quality waters surfacing from the aquifer, seemed to be the ideal location for an aquaculture site.The first tests began trying to exploit the residue heat over a steel heat exchanger. The heat transferred to the uncontaminated waters that directly into the site confirmed the potential of this idea.This innovative approach and the inclination to experiment will persist over time, characterizing the entire history of the company.In 1981, Gino Ravagnan was able to organize and host the World Water Aquaculture Conference in Venice during which he met Professor Serge Doroshov, a Russian marine biologist and professor at Davis University in California.He was conducting the first experiments of breeding white sturgeon, the most appreciated species on that continent.The brilliant idea of breeding this species also in Calvisano developed thanks to their meeting, together with a fruitful collaboration that will last several years.Young sturgeons adapted perfectly to the environment in Calvisano, allowing in 1992 the first reproduction of specimens raised in captivity. The import of larvae however continued until 1997 in order to enrich the genetic diversity of the population.The first production of caviarIn 1992 a modern processing plant was built, allowing, besides the sturgeon, other fish products to be processed and smoked. Thanks to the sanitary control of this plant, Agroittica Lombarda was able to reach an ambitious goal, after years of commitment and care in the breeding of white sturgeon, obtaining from this species a caviar of unprecedented quality. Characterized by large eggs and a particularly clean and round taste, it will conquer the most refined Italian palates. The secret of success is attributed to the unique characteristics of the territory, to the type of breeding that respects the ethological needs of the sturgeons and to the control of all phases of production from birth to the preparation of caviar, all strictly artisanal.1998A pinch of luck...In 1998, when Agroittica achieves great genetic wealth and full reproductive self-sufficiency, CITES (Washington Convention on Endangered Species), worried about the constant decline of wild populations of sturgeons, imposes strict regulations on fishing and marketing. At the same time, the US block the possibility of exporting live sturgeons. All of this puts Agroittica on the map for raising the only European genetically self-sustaining white sturgeon population and preparing a caviar production program that will eventually surpass even the production of Iran.