Queen’s deer could grace humbler tables

Press, 5 July 1983, Page 15

Queen’s deer could grace humbler tables

NZPA London The Queen is considering joining a co-operative planning to sell deer meat to supermarkets. Buckingham Palace said, “The matter is being looked into at the moment but no decision has been made.”

The meat is unlikely to be sold as venison, because the animals will be killed when under 31 months old, and the flesh will not have acquired the flavour associated with venison.

The object of the British Deer Producers’ Society, which will have more than 100 members when inaugurated on September 14, is to take deer at present running wild on the 20,250 hectares of Balmoral.

No-one knows how many there are, but a nearby estate, half the size of Balmoral, plans to farm 10,000 a year. The deer are known to be a particular interest of the Duke of Edinburgh, but at present are culled only for control or conservation purposes. The incentive to switch to large-scale farming would be great. Mr Louis Jankel, secretary and director-de-signate of the new society, said that 300 animals would produce an income of £60,000 ($NZ141,600) a year. As Balmoral is part of the Queen’s private estate, any revenues would go direct to the Royal Family. About 10 per cent of the deer population in Britain is farmed. About 40 per cent is in parklands. “With fairly minimal expenditure they could be farmed. The deer in Richmond Park, for example,

are pefectly suitable,” Mr Jankel said. “Instead of being a liability on the Department of the Environment, the farming of those deer could produce £lOO,OOO a year in revenue and the herd would grow as a result.” The society will be the marketing arm of the existing British Deer Farming Association, which has 110 members. The association has been conducting taste trials and sales tests in supermarkets. An advertising agency has been appointed to suggest a brand name. Venison is still favoured by some members, but “deer meat” or “red meat” seems more likely.