BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
Pic: PhilYeomans/BNPS

Black gold...its quality not quantity in the caviar world.

A tiny fish farm in the shadow of Exmoor in Devon has become the unlikely venue of Britains only caviar farm, after perfecting the tricky production of the famous luxury.

Since 2008 harvesting the famous Russian delicacy from the wild has been banned, after over fishing seriously threatened the survival of the Sturgeon that produced it.

But with one fish capable of producing over £2000 of 'black gold' the quest has been on to come up with a sustainable farmed alternative.

Now celebrity chefs are queing up to buy the first harvest from Kenneth Benning's London Fine Food Company.

Kenneth dreamt up the idea three years ago, with Pat and George Noble who ran the Exmoor farm. But they have had to wait untill the last few week's to start full scale production.

Caviar farming is notoriously difficult with water temperature and quality critical and sturgeon taking from six to 25 years to grow large enough to start producing eggs to sell.

Fortunately the Exmoor farm sits alongside the free flowing River Mole that provides a ready source of fresh water.