Chilled venison export volumes were up 7% and returns up 26% as marketers increased sales outside the European autumn market, Deer Industry New Zealand venison marketing manager Marianne Wilson said.
The chilled market season was also drawing out.
“As a result, the shoulders of the peak chilled demand period are spreading from spring into late summer,” Wilson said.
With farmers rebuilding their herds, export venison tonnages were down 11% in the year to August 2016.
In contrast, chilled venison export volumes had increased.
The average published AP stag schedule peaked this month at $8.87 a kilogram, ahead of last season’s spring peak of $8.63.
But Wilson said the headline price did not fully reflect the underlying market improvement because of the firming of the Kiwi dollar against the Euro.
At euro 0.65c, the dollar was well above its 10-year average and 8% up on the corresponding time last year.
The United States (671 tonnes) and Germany (559 tonnes) remained the largest chilled markets but if Belgium and the Netherlands were treated as a single market it would be the biggest at 853 tonnes.
Traditionally, venison export sales have been heavily reliant on the German game trade, which was highly seasonal with demand and prices peaking for the supply of chilled venison in September and early October.
It had long been an industry goal to build year-round demand for venison at chilled prices.
“In addition to our investment in the Passion2Profit programme, venison market development remains the single largest area of DINZ expenditure,” Wilson said.
“The shoulders of the peak chilled demand period are spreading from spring into late summer.”
Marianne Wilson
DINZ
At the direction of the venison marketing companies, DINZ did venison promotion in priority markets and this year put $400,000 into joint promotions with individual marketers.
“These promotions are quite varied depending on the market and the customer base being targeted and are often substantial campaigns.
“Priorities for companies include food service in the US or year-round supply to German retail outlets.”
What NZ farm-raised venison had to offer was increasingly resonating with influential chefs and a new generation of consumers who were open to new culinary concepts.
A side-effect of increasing sales of chilled meat was a 30% fall in the supply of frozen venison to Germany.
But while venison marketing companies didn’t like disappointing anyone in the market, the reality was they were prioritising customers who would take chilled venison year-round at better prices than the frozen trade could offer, Wilson said.
