Pheasant ready-meals will be dinner game changer
PREPARING a pheasant dish may soon involve nothing more strenuous than piercing the film of a ready-meal, under plans from a new group which wants to shake game’s posh image.
The British Game Alliance (BGA), which is launching this month, wants to ensure the future of the game industry post-brexit by showing that the meat is more sustainable and ethical than other varieties, and that it can be very easy to cook.
According to the group, shooting has become more popular, but demand for game meat has not grown.
Thomas Adams, managing director of the BGA, said they are hoping to rebrand game and make it a regular fixture in shopping baskets.
He said: “Game needs a re-brand from bottom to top in terms of how the modern man and woman engages with it. As an industry we need to adapt – we should offer products like we have with chicken – like ready meals, thighs and breasts.”
The BGA is aiming to market the meat towards millennials, using food bloggers and celebrity chefs to show “anyone can cook it”.
Mr Adams said: “It’s seen as quite a specialist thing to cook… what we are trying to achieve is getting rid of the stigma. Game comes across as this archaic upper-class product, when actually it is by far the healthiest of all the meats, in terms of nutritional value, way higher in protein, less fat than chicken.”
Supermarkets, when approached by The Daily Telegraph, appeared open to the idea of expanding their meat aisles to include British game.
Aldi confirmed that they are looking into introducing regional seasonal game produce later this year.
A Waitrose spokesman said game meat is becoming more popular, and added: “Game is naturally low in fat and it’s an increasingly popular alternative. Our game is reared to the highest standards and includes pheasant, partridge, guinea fowl and wood pigeon.”