Waitrose & Venison

[Patrick A]

I was a little surprised to discover on Saturday that most of Waitrose's venison is sourced from New Zealand...

I have written to them but I am disappointed, especially as they own the Leckford Estate, which has deer on it and we all know that at this time of year venison isn't exactly in short supply - unless you are someone I stalk with now and again!!!!

I would welcome views on this, it is not unreasonable that they make an effort to sell UK sourced meat when in season?

P

 

[private fraser]

+1 on that.
They could go one up on their competitors if they marketed it and labelled it the right way.

 

[Kiwi hunter]

Is the veni sold as wild or farmed? If it's wild venison then it gives the cowboys an excuse to fly round the hills blasting all the deer instead of the poor old foot hunter (slightly bitter from previous experiences). I don't know how it is economical. I think the marketing is partially based on NZ's clean green image.
Cheers,
Hayden

 

[tozzybum]

tesco,s do this with their lamb as well.green my butt all shipped from n.z to the uk .i seem to remember seeing some sheeps when i went to elmer fudds stalking .im sure the welsh farmers wouldnt mind selling 1 or 2 to the half wits

 

[defender]

I think that the problem is continuity of supply, they probably have farmed venison from NZ that guarentees that they can meet the supermarket's supply demands whereas wild UK deer supply is probably a bit too haphazard for the supermarket chains.

I was a little surprised to discover on Saturday that most of Waitrose's venison is sourced from New Zealand...

I have written to them but I am disappointed, especially as they own the Leckford Estate, which has deer on it and we all know that at this time of year venison isn't exactly in short supply - unless you are someone I stalk with now and again!!!!

I would welcome views on this, it is not unreasonable that they make an effort to sell UK sourced meat when in season?

P

 

[smullery]

You find a supplier that will guarantee a regular supply of anything over a period.

Who on here is going to guarantee 500 roe/red loins every Monday, delivered to one location for six months, all meeting the same size/standard ?

No retail business wants the discard from a recreational stalker. That's why there are Deer Farms.

Now, the wholesale meat trade tends to feed into the local butchers but the public don't use butchers anymore...

Stan

 

[howa243]

I was a little surprised to discover on Saturday that most of Waitrose's venison is sourced from New Zealand...

I have written to them but I am disappointed, especially as they own the Leckford Estate, which has deer on it and we all know that at this time of year venison isn't exactly in short supply - unless you are someone I stalk with now and again!!!!



I would welcome views on this, it is not unreasonable that they make an effort to sell UK sourced meat when in season?

P

I know for a fact that Waitrose buy a great deal of venison from UK deer farms. I assume that it is unable to buy enough and therefore has to go elsewhere.

 

[scooby565]

Having had discussions with both Waitrose and First Venison (a group of UK Deer Farmers who supply Waitrose with venison), I know that Waitrose buy and sell as much UK Farmed venison as they can. They have both the capacity and the desire to deal with much much more. The procurement of NZ venison is to provide the customer with continuity, ie; ensuring there is quality meat on the shelves year round. The bottom line is - if the UK produced more FARMED venison, Waitrose would sell it. It is unlikely we would see wild venison on the super market shelves due to lack of consistency in flavour, size and control etc. People have become accustomed to expect exactly the same in their food whenever they buy it.

 

[Timbo61]

Is the veni sold as wild or farmed? If it's wild venison then it gives the cowboys an excuse to fly round the hills blasting all the deer instead of the poor old foot hunter (slightly bitter from previous experiences). I don't know how it is economical. I think the marketing is partially based on NZ's clean green image.
Cheers,
Hayden

100% Clean n Green....Yeah right !That has to be one of the worlds greatest bits of tourism/export propaganda.

I would be interested to hear what price NZ Venison is on your supermarket shelves, cos it is damned expensive in the country of origin

 

[long_range_rob]

The British people have forgotten seasonal real food unfortunately.

We expect blackberries in April and tomatoes and cucumber 365 days a year.

It's very sad.

 

[Timbo61]

I just dd a quick online check, and one of the major chains here sells backsteak medallions at $5.25 nz per 100g. That is £2.50 per 100g and it is farmed meat

 

[morena]

Last time I saw venison in a supermarket it was £ 22.5 a kg. Didn't check to see if UK or NZ sourced.

 

[iknownothing]

Tesco are the same, if you look at the NGO Facebook page they had a little picture of the packets.
The National Gamekeepers Organisation

 

[Olaf]

Hi, out of interest, does anyone know what species of deer they farm in NZ ?
Im always amazed that whenever I see venison for sale that it's sold as venison as opposed to by its species. I suppose it's to assist the sales, as people largely seem to not like buying part of what was once a living animal, they seem to prefer the shrink wrapped piece of meat as it's food and not a bit of an animal.
That actually reminds me, tonight's meal, I think I will nip out to the chiller and whip a fillet out of the Fallow buck that's chilling out in my chiller

kind regards, Olaf

 

[iknownothing]

Olaf, they farm red almost exclusively

 

[Timbo61]

Of the 4 deer farms in my area, two are Fallow and two Reds.
The Reds are only farmed for Velvet, not meat

 

[Kiwi hunter]

Hi, out of interest, does anyone know what species of deer they farm in NZ ?
Im always amazed that whenever I see venison for sale that it's sold as venison as opposed to by its species. I suppose it's to assist the sales, as people largely seem to not like buying part of what was once a living animal, they seem to prefer the shrink wrapped piece of meat as it's food and not a bit of an animal.
That actually reminds me, tonight's meal, I think I will nip out to the chiller and whip a fillet out of the Fallow buck that's chilling out in my chiller

kind regards, Olaf

I think most farmed deer in NZ are red - wapiti crosses. The wapiti (elk) are bred in for their size.
I was surprised when I went to a farm shop here that specialises in wild game that, as you say, the venison isn't a specific species. No idea which deer it was from.
Cheers,
Hayden

 

[kennyc]

I think most farmed deer in NZ are red - wapiti crosses. The wapiti (elk) are bred in for their size.
I was surprised when I went to a farm shop here that specialises in wild game that, as you say, the venison isn't a specific species. No idea which deer it was from.
Cheers,
Hayden

if it was Vicars you could always ask, not sure most people would know the difference in taste

 

[Buchan]

The British people have forgotten seasonal real food unfortunately.

We expect blackberries in April and tomatoes and cucumber 365 days a year.

It's very sad.

And yet Cadbury's make a lot from the seasonality of Creme eggs!

 

[Dama]

Having had discussions with both Waitrose and First Venison (a group of UK Deer Farmers who supply Waitrose with venison), I know that Waitrose buy and sell as much UK Farmed venison as they can. They have both the capacity and the desire to deal with much much more. The procurement of NZ venison is to provide the customer with continuity, ie; ensuring there is quality meat on the shelves year round. The bottom line is - if the UK produced more FARMED venison, Waitrose would sell it. It is unlikely we would see wild venison on the super market shelves due to lack of consistency in flavour, size and control etc. People have become accustomed to expect exactly the same in their food whenever they buy it.

Exactly. All deer farms and parks kill at optimum carcase size and weight. It doesn't pay to produce out of season venison and anyway the UK can't produce enough . Roe and muntjac carcases do not suit supermarket cuts. Filling the gap with product from NZ (six months out of synch) helps both the supermarkets and British venison producers by ensuring consistancy of supply.