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Specialty meat requires imaginative marketing

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Published: April 18, 2002

RED DEER – Venison gracing the tables of long-dead European kings is an

important history lesson for

Alberta deer and elk producers.

Slav Heller of Alberta Agriculture told a recent Alberta White Tail and

Mule Deer Association meeting in Red Deer that they have to think of

their product as gourmet meat.

“You have to be creative in marketing this gourmet venison product,” he

said.

But he cautioned that the process will need to be planned carefully.

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The industry will need adequate amounts of raw product, a suitable

processor and a buyer willing to spend more for a premium product.

“You will need a different approach and different set of skills. You

will have to understand handling raw meat and all the food safety

regulations.”

He told producers they should work with the beef and pork industries to

learn more about the meat trade and food safety.

He suggested starting with the Alberta market, because the province has

broad international exposure with a major tourism industry in its major

cities and national parks. Visitors expect unique food.

“You don’t sell the steak, you sell the image.”

He also warned about potential problems, such as deciding what to do

with the trim and lower-valued cuts.

“You can put it in the freezer and wait for a miracle or you can grind

it for smokies,” he said.

Quality control will also be important, he said, because a disappointed

customer does not return a second time.

While the meat market could take three to five years to develop, Brett

Oliver-Lyons of the association is convinced there is international

demand for meat from the 10,000 deer raised on 196 licensed Alberta

farms.

For example, Germany has imported 20,000 tonnes of venison from New

Zealand.

Terry Church, manager of Canadian Rocky Mountain Game Farm south of

Calgary, is already selling venison and bison meat. The ranch supplies

Alberta-grown venison from elk and bison to the mother company’s

resorts and restaurants in Banff and Calgary.

The Rocky Mountain Resorts Company is focusing on heritage game meat

for an international clientele in white tablecloth restaurants.

Gourmet chefs want consistency, quality, uniqueness and guaranteed food

safety. Church said price is not the most important consideration for

these chefs.

To improve consistency and quality, the ranch invested in meat testing

programs at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lacombe, Alta.

They learned several things:

  • Slaughter animals must be presorted before they are delivered to the

processing plant. To reduce stress, the animals must arrive on time so

they are not standing and waiting in a holding pen.

  • Cooling rates for venison must be modified to prevent moisture

loss, which results in dry meat with less flavour.

“A slower cooling rate improves the quality and tenderness of elk,”

Church said.

  • Meat must be aged in a vacuum-packed bag rather than by hanging,

which dries it out.

  • Tenderness tests at Lacombe found that aging of venison may not be

as important as in other meats. The study showed even older animals

produce tender venison.

Trim is a problem. For example, about 30 percent of an elk is

high-value cuts while the rest is of lesser value. There is little

external fat except over the rump. Church said this is an opportunity

for value adding with products such as sausage, deli meats and pate.

While customers are always looking for something different, he said it

has to be as good as beef because that is the standard.

Meat served in Alberta can be processed in a provincial plant, but many

do not have the facilities for specialty livestock.

Alberta has only one federally inspected plant capable of handling

these animals.

About the author

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth has covered many livestock shows and conferences across the continent since 1988. Duckworth had graduated from Lethbridge College’s journalism program in 1974, later earning a degree in communications from the University of Calgary. Duckworth won many awards from the Canadian Farm Writers Association, American Agricultural Editors Association, the North American Agricultural Journalists and the International Agriculture Journalists Association.

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