Growth in ‘gourmet’ venison
Mainstream meat producers looking for an alternative added-value market could find venison farming provides access to such an opportunity. Still perceived by many as a gourmet’s choice, venison’s popularity is growing and as more people discover its nutritional benefits, the sector has adapted to boost producers’ returns.
“Deer farming has an environmentally-friendly image, partly due to its extensive nature,” says David Deakin, marketing development officer for Yorkshire-based marketing and processing group Venico.
“The added value in venison lies in its gourmet image – it’s not a commodity. And its nutritional attributes are among venison’s main marketing tools.”
Venison production can be a relatively low cost enterprise to run, says Mr Deakin. “Deer are relatively self-sufficient creatures, so labour costs can be kept to a minimum. They don”t need shearing or foot-trimming and, when they’re in the right condition, 99% of hinds calve unassisted.”
Venico’s formation was born out of a need to establish some structure in the venison market. “Producers’ marketing was done on a largely ad hoc basis. One of the biggest problems facing farmers selling to processors was late payment, often up to six months after delivery.”
It was problems like these that encouraged Richard Elmhirst, a venison producer who owned an abattoir, to collaborate with five other deer farmers to establish Venico, organising procurement, processing and marketing of farmed venison to the food service sector and multiple retailers. The Round Green abattoir, the only plant dedicated to farmed red deer in the country, is EC approved and processes more than 2000 deer carcasses a year.
“This meant we could market venison in a more cohesive way, as well as improving the consistency of supply that was vital to supplying supermarkets such as Waitrose,” says Mr Deakin.
And farmed venison’s own quality assurance mark was essential to gain access to supermarket trade. “The mark is administered by the British Deer Farmers Association and audited by the European Food Safety Inspection Service. It guarantees full traceability, caring management and differentiates farmed venison from its wild counterpart.”
This means consumers can be assured of hygienic carcass handling and processing under vet supervision and that the animal is less than 27 months old, giving consistent quality, he says.
“Demand is growing fast. The public are now more aware of farmed venison – it’s now part of their vocabulary. For example, 80% of Scotland’s farmed venison was exported 10 years ago. Today, it’s going into the home market,” says Mr Deakin.
Decoupling subsidy from production puts farmed venison on a level playing field with beef, pork and lamb, he says. “Deer farmers in England will now receive the regional element of the single farm payment, offsetting some fixed costs.”