Wild Venison

Wild Venison meat is good for you it’s truly seasonal, superbly versatile and rich in flavour. From a health-giving perspective, venison is an excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids and contains half the saturated fat of beef. It’s also lower in calories, cholesterol, salt, and higher in protein.

However, the traditional wild venison market has suffered a supply and demand imbalance since autumn 2019 and post Brexit, which had been exacerbated by the closure of the hospitality sector in the pandemic. The Approved Game Handling Establishments (AGHE) who purchase carcases from deer managers across the country have seen a significant drop in demand from foodservice and hospitality marketplaces and recognise that the price per kilogramme falls well below the historic average.

Since Autumn 2020 progress has been made in developing an increase in large scale wild venison markets. This ongoing loyalty, and increase in confidence by National supermarkets looks set to continue, and their demands for quality and transparency throughout the sector can be expected to safeguard its future.  The Wild Venison Working Group (WVWG) facilitated by The Forestry Commission, with representation and investment from across the sector, commissioned a scoping study in Autumn 2020 to look at wild venison markets, stakeholder views on future supply, and current and future market potential.

Several potential areas for improvement were noted, including a lack of a recognised quality assurance scheme for the Wild Venison being collected and processed in England and Wales.

The WVWG commissioned Grown in Britain to develop a robust quality assurance and certification scheme for British Wild Venison.  The group will be working closely with Scottish Quality Wild Venison, ensuring consistency across the UK recognising that there are market benefits for maintaining local provenance and QAS across the country.

This new Quality Assurance Scheme will further help processors of British Wild Venison increase market share and competitiveness of British Wild Venison both in the UK and Internationally.

The Lincolnshire Deer Group is encouraging everyone to support the promotion of British Wild Venison by ensuring that high quality venison is produced, and that standards are maintained to ensure a quality product is available to the AGHE’s to supply onto the Supermarkets and future hospitality trade.  It is recognised that there is a growing local demand and market for wild venison and that a brand and quality assurance scheme will build and maintain consumer confidence in British Wild Venison.  The ambition is that the overall AGHE processor price for British Wild Venison carcasses shows an increase as more assured Venison becomes available, new markets develop, and existing markets reopen.

The South Lincolnshire Deer Management Group (SLDMG) will continue to promote and maintain high standards of carcass and venison supply to the sector, either through local sales or supply to an AGHE.