Petrossian (business)

Petrossian (officially Petrossian S.A.) is a French private company known for a wide variety of products but mainly fine spices, caviar and smoked seafood products. Founded in 1920 by Armenian immigrants to France it currently operates 7 (2023) retail locations in New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas as well as in Paris and Brussels.

Petrossian
Petrossian, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail (specialty foods)
Founded
FounderMelkoum Petrossian
Mouchegh Petrossian
HeadquartersParis, France
Number of locations
7 (2023)
Area served
Europe, North America
OwnerPetrossian family
ParentPetrossian Société Anonyme

History

It was founded by two Armenian refugees, Melkoum Petrossian and Mouchegh Petrossian,[1] sons of a silkworm farmer from Tiflis (Tbilisi) in Georgia who moved to France to escape the country's pre-Soviet extreme poverty.[2] The business kept close cooperation with the Soviet Union and Mouchegh had married Irène Mailoff, daughter of a Russian family and marketer of refined caviar in the 19th century. The relation with the Soviet authorities and businesses solidified with the 1930s.[3] After the death of Melkoum Petrossian in 1972 and Mouchegh Petrossian in 1981, the son of the latter Armen Petrossian took the direction of the family business in 1991.[1]

Petrossian has a showcase historic shop in Paris, at 18 boulevard de La Tour-Maubourg, leading a number of other fashionable enterprises, boutiques, and restaurants which the company runs in Paris, Brussels, Dubai, New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.[4][5][6]

Petrossian maintained a remarkable hold on the caviar market and other Russian specialties like Chatka crabs and vodkas into the 1990s. As the trade in caviar became more competitive, the enterprise diversified with other lines of smoked fish, anguilles, herring, scallops (particularly the French Coquille Saint-Jacques), and even Chinese dim sum.

In 2001, the enterprise left its historic manufacturing plant in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine moving to Angers for wider operations.[7] It also expanded its list of products also marketing foie gras, chocolates, truffles, candies, pâtés and cheeses and various bakeries. In 2017, Petrossian was still a leading international caviar brand with a total sales of 70 million euros[3] and estimated at 20% of the world caviar market.[8]

References
  1. Le Monde: Armen Petrossian, le caviar dans le sang (in French)
  2. Fram, Max (2015-09-05). The Motherland of Elephants. Lulu. ISBN 978-1326231583.
  3. France Soir: Petrossian: Une dynastie du caviar (in French)
  4. "Adresses". petrossian.fr. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  5. "Our Restaurants". petrossian.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  6. "Our Boutiques". petrossian.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  7. LSA Commerce et Consommation: Petrossian s'ancre à Angers (in French)
  8. Capital: Armen Petrossian, le tsar du caviar (in French)
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