Venison: Deer industry pushes to expand New Zealand’s market in US

North America is already the biggest market for New Zealand's venison, but most is consumed in restaurants. Photo / Janna Dixon

By Sally Murphy of RNZ

The deer industry is doing a big push to get more Americans eating New Zealand venison.

North America is already the biggest market for New Zealand’s venison but most of it is consumed in restaurants - the goal is to get more people cooking it at home.

Deer Industry New Zealand, five major venison exporters and the Ministry for Primary Industries are contributing to the $4.9 million project dubbed the North American Retail Accelerator project.

Deer Industry interim chief executive Rhys Griffiths said they would drive growth by working on a marketing push and attending trade shows “to promote the versatility and great taste” of New Zealand’s venison.

“When you do that, it’s important you’re working with exporters and marketers in the market to take it to the next step.”

Consumers also needed to know where and how they could purchase the products, Griffiths said.

If the project was successful, deer farmers would have to grow their herds to meet demand, he said.

“We know there’s an ability to grow production if the financial incentives are there for farmers, so it’s critically important we get that right.

“We’ve got to make sure farm gate returns are increasing so it’s attractive for farmers to run more stock.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the venison industry in New Zealand experienced a huge downturn as restaurants around the world closed.

“That’s why diversifying markets and how venison is used is really important, we need more people in North America cooking it at home,” Griffiths said.

The US market was growing very quickly so the potential to sell more venison was huge, he said.

- RNZ