By David Draper

Would venison by any other name taste as sweet? That's the question venison producers in New Zealand are asking themselves as they try to market their wares in Europe, where farmed venison is popular fare. According to an article from Radio New Zealand, venison farmers there are looking to use the name Cervena as a marketing tool in Germany and other European countries as a way to drum up flagging sales:

“The deer industry is considering whether to have another go at marketing New Zealand venison in Europe under the name Cervena.

He says European importers did not want to highlight the fact it was a farmed product or that the flavour of the farmed product was possibly milder.”

The name Cervena as applied to farmed venison has actually been around a couple of decades. Much like Kobe or Wagyu when applied to beef, the Cervena appellation is reserved for meat from red deer that have been raised under certain conditions, including allowing the deer to graze freely, restricting the use of growth hormones or steroids, and processing the animals in Cervena-certified facilities.

If you've ever eaten venison in an upscale restaurant in the U.S., there is a good chance is was Cervena. Chefs here, including Todd Gray of Washington D.C.'s Equinox restaurant, praise it for its full flavor, tenderness and healthy, drug-free properties.

I'd be interested in comparing farm-raised Cervena to hunter-harvested venison, though admittedly, red deer versus whitetail is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Have any of you tried Cervena or other pen-raised venison, or do you only eat wild deer?

Comments (3)

from SMC1986 wrote 2 weeks 2 days ago

I had reindeer in Germany and it was amazing. Tender and cooked perfectly. But then again so is a well aged backstrap. Both delicious but I can't see myself paying for venison when I can get it myself at a deep discount.

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from Innes wrote 2 weeks 2 days ago

Hi David

Innes from New Zealand here, thanks for picking up our story. A couple of things - US buyers bring in about 1,500 tonnes of venison to the USA each year, so it's a drop in the bucket of US meat consumption.
We don't expect people who hunt their own deer to be shopping for venison imported from NZ, our customers are top end restaurants. We talk to US producers, like our friends at Broken Arrow Ranch, about how to increase demand for premium, lean and healthy venison, about how to grow the market, not how to pinch customers off each other. Our issue is a lack of understanding among consumers about the healthy attributes of venison, and its great taste when prepared and cooked properly.
One more thing - it's not quite right to characterise Cervena as 'pen-raised'. Our deer roam pasture on the hills and mountains of New Zealand. They don't live in pens.
If you would like to try some, maybe have a cook-off between some Cervena and something you've got in the freezer we'd be keen.

Best regards
Innes Moffat
Deer Industry New Zealand

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from allegnmtn wrote 1 week 5 days ago

I had farm raised red deer when I was in Hungary and farm raised Whitetail in Ontario. Both were excellent and I don't remember a big difference between the two in terms of flavor or quality. But, the recipes were different so it's hard to make a side by side comparison. But, I can also say wild venison, properly prepared, is equally as good as both. I did both recipes with wild venison. i will say that a tenderloin from a 7 month old doe is noticeably different and has a better flavor than one from a 4 1/2 year old buck. I can also say that farm country wild venison fed on corn, alfalfa, clover, and wild apples has a better flavor than mountain country deer fed on hardwood browse and mountain laurel. Overall, the key to venison is proper preparation...cooked very quickly to rare-medium rare and never any more done than that unless it's slow cooked or marinaded.

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from SMC1986 wrote 2 weeks 2 days ago

I had reindeer in Germany and it was amazing. Tender and cooked perfectly. But then again so is a well aged backstrap. Both delicious but I can't see myself paying for venison when I can get it myself at a deep discount.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Innes wrote 2 weeks 2 days ago

Hi David

Innes from New Zealand here, thanks for picking up our story. A couple of things - US buyers bring in about 1,500 tonnes of venison to the USA each year, so it's a drop in the bucket of US meat consumption.
We don't expect people who hunt their own deer to be shopping for venison imported from NZ, our customers are top end restaurants. We talk to US producers, like our friends at Broken Arrow Ranch, about how to increase demand for premium, lean and healthy venison, about how to grow the market, not how to pinch customers off each other. Our issue is a lack of understanding among consumers about the healthy attributes of venison, and its great taste when prepared and cooked properly.
One more thing - it's not quite right to characterise Cervena as 'pen-raised'. Our deer roam pasture on the hills and mountains of New Zealand. They don't live in pens.
If you would like to try some, maybe have a cook-off between some Cervena and something you've got in the freezer we'd be keen.

Best regards
Innes Moffat
Deer Industry New Zealand

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from allegnmtn wrote 1 week 5 days ago

I had farm raised red deer when I was in Hungary and farm raised Whitetail in Ontario. Both were excellent and I don't remember a big difference between the two in terms of flavor or quality. But, the recipes were different so it's hard to make a side by side comparison. But, I can also say wild venison, properly prepared, is equally as good as both. I did both recipes with wild venison. i will say that a tenderloin from a 7 month old doe is noticeably different and has a better flavor than one from a 4 1/2 year old buck. I can also say that farm country wild venison fed on corn, alfalfa, clover, and wild apples has a better flavor than mountain country deer fed on hardwood browse and mountain laurel. Overall, the key to venison is proper preparation...cooked very quickly to rare-medium rare and never any more done than that unless it's slow cooked or marinaded.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.