Eat Venison Day – 04/09/10

At a breakfast held at Glengoyne Distillery 12 miles north of Glasgow to highlight the venison event Lochhead said:

“Scotland is a land rich in primary produce with a vibrant food and drink sector. Consumers associate Scottish produce with outstanding quality and taste, and they are becoming increasingly aware of what's available on their doorstep and the associated economic, health and environmental benefits.

Richard Lochhead has a vision for the Venison industry!

“I am determined to enhance Scotland's reputation as a world leader for quality food and drink and Eat Scottish Venison Day will raise awareness of this iconic Scottish product. The Scottish deer management industry is important to our economy contributing about £105 million each year and directly employing over 900 people.

“A significant proportion of venison is now produced to Scottish Quality Wild Venison (SQWV) standards and it is one of healthiest products on the market. Initiatives like this help demonstrate to consumers that venison is an easy to cook, versatile and succulent food.

“Our 'provenance on a plate' toolkit encourages restaurants, pubs and cafes to show origin information on menus. This means that whether eating out or doing the weekly shop, consumers have a greater opportunity to choose fresh, seasonal produce – such as Scottish venison. I am pleased that the Working Group has succeeded in bringing together Scotland's main producers of wild and farmed venison in a joint campaign to market Scottish venison.”

Peter Russell, Chairman of Ian Macleod Distillers, hosts of the launch at their Glengoyne Distillery said:

“Glengoyne and Scottish venison is the perfect partnership both in terms of taste and as quality iconic Scottish products. We are proud to be working with the Scottish Venison Working Group, further enhancing Glengoyne's Real Taste of Malt, Real Taste of Food credentials.”

Richard Cooke, Vice Chairman, Scottish Venison Working Group, said:

“We are looking at a tremendous opportunity. Venison has some of the best qualities in terms of health and nutrition of any meat, and we have a market that literally cannot get enough, fuelled by continuous welcome mention on food and cookery programmes and by leading chefs.

“We also have a very strong local market being serviced through farmers' markets, farm shops and local independent butchers. We need to capitalise on this, and one of the priorities of our Group now is to develop and bring forward ways where we can meet this demand and increase the value of this income stream to our rural economy. The potential is enormous.”