Sir, – It’s good that you covered the launch of the new QA scheme for wild venison from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Whilst it’s there in the small print, it has to be re-emphasised that its Scottish equivalent, Scottish Quality Wild Venison, has been in existence for 20 years and covers most of the wild venison from Scotland that goes into the food chain in both Scotland, markets in the south and for export.
The new British Quality Wild venison scheme is not available to Scottish ‘producers’ but hopefully its introduction will make those who have resisted joining SQWV in Scotland wake up to the increasing importance of quality assurance of the venison process as demands are put on the wild deer sector for increased culls and more venison going to market.
More recently, the Scottish venison sector had continued to lead the way with a strategy for venison launched in 2018 (Beyond the Glen), significant work on deer health (the Scottish Deer Health Survey 2017 -18), UK venison market research since 2019 (through The Knowledge Bank), and a number of innovative projects to develop routes to market for Scottish venison.
The Scottish Government must be credited for its support for these initiatives and its recognition of the importance of venison to the rural sector and its part in Scotland’s impressive food and drink offering.
Whilst the QA scheme is not consumer-facing as such, if it can generate consumer confidence in venison, then that is significant progress for all UK venison at this critical time.
Dick Playfair, Secretary, Scottish Venison Association
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