Even though Stardew Valley is a farming simulator game, there are plenty of other things to do, from fishing to mining to befriending the locals. One of the cool things you can do is produce artisan goods, which are a great way to make a great profit. One of the best artisan goods to produce is Caviar, which sells for quite a nice bit of money.

Related: Stardew Valley: What To Do In Winter

It's simple: all you need is a Fish Pond, some Sturgeon, and some Preserves Jars. Here's everything you need to know about starting your Caviar empire (or just producing some here and there).

Updated March 8, 2023: Stardew Valley is still as popular as ever, and making Caviar is a great way to stock up on gifts that the townspeople will love. We've updated this guide for clarity so you can start making caviar with ease.

What Is Caviar?

Caviar is one of the many artisan goods that are available in the game. Like Jam and Pickles, Caviar is made with a Preserves Jar. However, unlike Jam and Pickles, you don't use fruit and veggies to make Caviar. Instead, you'll need Sturgeon Roe.

This is obtained from Sturgeon that are in a Fish Pond, a farm building that was added in the 1.4 update.

How Is Caviar Used?

Profit

Caviar isn't used in any quests, but there are some other uses for it. Caviar sells for 500g per jar, or 700g if you have the Artisan Profession, making it a great thing to sell if you want to make a lot of money.

To Complete The Missing Bundle

You can use Caviar for the Missing Bundle, if you went down the Community Center route rather than siding with Joja. After completing the Community Center, you'll soon gain access to the Missing Bundle, which tasks you with finding and donating some rare and expensive items, one of which is Caviar. There are six items you can donate, and five slots to fill, so you don't need to donate Caviar, but it is an option.

To Make The Fashion Hat

If you are a fan of changing up your character's look in Stardew Valley, you can also use Caviar to make the Fashion Hat. This fancy headpiece is a black rimmed number with a cute feather in it. Simply combine a batch of Caviar with some Cloth at the Sewing Machine in Emily's House (or the one on your farm, if you've obtained it from the corresponding Special Order).

As A Gift For NPCs

Basically everyone in Stardew Valley likes artisan goods. Although they all have different tastes with their favorite gifts and things that they can't stand, if you're just looking to give some of the townspeople a gift that they'll enjoy in order to boost your relationship, then artisan goods like Wine, Cheese, and yes, even Caviar are a good choice. You'll gain 45 friendship points with the person when you give it to them.

Caviar is a 'liked' gift by everyone in Pelican Town except Jas, Sebastian, and Vincent. These three hate it, and you'll lose friendship points with them if you give it to them.

How To Make Caviar

To do make caviar, you'll need to harvest Sturgeon Roe from a Fish Pond, then place it in a Preserves Jar.

Build a Fish Pond

To build a Fish Pond, you'll need:

• Green Algae x5
• Seaweed x5
• Stone x200
• 5,000 gold

Once you have these, head to Robin's Carpenter Shop. She'll build you the Fish Pond wherever you want on your farm. They measure five tiles by five tiles and can be moved around like most of the other farm buildings. It'll take her two days to build.

You can mark which fish are in the pond by placing a sign on it.

Next, we'll catch the very fish we want to show on that sign.

Catch a Sturgeon

Sturgeon are not the hardest fish to catch in Stardew Valley, but they're far from the easiest. They aren't so hard to find, per sé, but reeling them in can be quite the task.

You can only find Sturgeon in the Mountain lake, but you can find them in two seasons: Summer and Winter. They can appear between 6am and 7pm, so you'll want to make sure you're fishing in between those times.

Position yourself on the island in the middle of the lake and cast as far from shore as possible — your chances are better this way. You can still catch them close to shore, but they're easier to find the further you cast.

The weather doesn't matter, as they can be caught during any weather. But, rain in the Summer gives the highest chances, and rain in the Winter gives the lowest — though this doesn't matter too much, as rain is only possible in the Winter with the use of a Rain Totem.

Once you manage to hook a Sturgeon, the hard part begins. They're difficult to reel in, but not impossible. Consider eating one of the many dishes that increase your Fishing skill, or use lures to make the process easier, like the Cork Bobber, which increases the size of your fishing bar.

If you're really having trouble catching Sturgeon, don't worry. You can also buy them from Krobus. Every Wednesday, he'll stock either a Magnet or one of ten different fish. One of the possibilities is Sturgeon, and he'll have five of them for 200g each.

Fish Pond Mechanics

Place a fish in the pond, it'll start to produce items, including Roe. The fish will reproduce, then ask for an item (or multiple items) at certain population thresholds. Until you bring the requested item(s), the population cannot grow. At different population thresholds, what the fish can produce will also change.

Unlike other fish, Sturgeon will only produce Roe. It can be either one or two each day, but it's the only thing they'll make.

Here are the items your Sturgeon might request:

The Sturgeon will reproduce every four days, but when you complete their requests, it resets the counter to zero. So, if it's one day until they reproduce, but you finish the request, it'll be another four days before you get a new Sturgeon.

Harvest and Process the Roe

Once your Sturgeon have produced some Roe, you can collect it like any other item by interacting with the Fish Pond. Then, just place it in a Preserves Jar. It'll turn into Caviar in 6,000 in-game minutes, or four in-game days.

Sturgeon is the only type of fish that will produce the right Roe for Caviar. You can still get Roe from most of the other fish through the same process, but it'll turn into Aged Roe, not Caviar, after being placed in a Preserves Jar.

Next: Stardew Valley: All You Need to Know About Fishing