The British are eating more venison than Scotland is able to produce. The country will need to produce over 1,200 more tonnes of deer meat each year to keep up with the demand. For example, Sainsbury's customers bought 115% more deer meat in 2015 than the previous year. But there has been a huge increase in demand for venison, which was previously only available from private hunters. Successful marketing that venison is a healthier option has helped as it is lower in fat than skinned chicken breast, and higher in iron than any other red meat. The issue now is future supply - nearly two-thirds of the UK's deer meat comes from Scotland, with the rest imported from New Zealand, Poland and Spain - As for quality, a 2013 UK government report found that farmed deer are often “kept by inexperienced owners,” which suggests the development of new farms should go hand-in-hand with farmer training. so Scotland needs to create more deer farms. However, this in itself has raised other issues, says Quartz.
The British are eating more venison than Scotland is able to produce. The country will need to produce over 1,200 more tonnes of deer meat each year to keep up with the demand. For example, Sainsbury's customers bought 115% more deer meat in 2015 than the previous year. But there has been a huge increase in demand for venison, which was previously only available from private hunters. Successful marketing that venison is a healthier option has helped as it is lower in fat than skinned chicken breast, and higher in iron than any other red meat. The issue now is future supply - nearly two-thirds of the UK's deer meat comes from Scotland, with the rest imported from New Zealand, Poland and Spain - so Scotland needs to create more deer farms. However, this in itself has raised other issues, says Quartz.