BASC has teamed up with one of the leading integrated bilingual communications agencies in Wales in a bid to increase the value of game meat to the country’s economy by 2020.
BASC and Four Cymru will work together to explore how to bring game meat to the forefront for consumers in Wales. The organisations will seek out all aspects of the Welsh game meat supply chain by joining forces with people from across the industry and beyond.
The project will support greater coordination and sharing of knowledge from the primary producers, ranging from small local shoots to larger commercial businesses, to a variety of suppliers such as local butchers to businesses buying game meat for processing and selling on to shops, restaurants and other hospitality providers.
The potential for increasing the value of this healthy, local and wild food source to the Welsh economy will be examined and further opportunities created for more people in Wales to enjoy game meat. This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.
Shooting is worth £75 million a year to the economy in Wales and supports the equivalent of 2,400 full-time jobs in Wales.
Tim Russell, BASC’s director of conservation, said: “As we develop a wide-angle view of the size, scale and value of existing and potential local markets, we will aim to draw together as many people as possible to understand the challenges and opportunities and uncover ways in which together we can develop a sustainable and thriving Welsh game meat supply chain.
“To help us reach and involve as many people as possible, we are bringing together a group from across the shooting community with wider countryside organisations, land-based and environmental bodies, rural skills development agencies, agricultural unions, land owners and managers and of course the primary producers and suppliers. Drawing together private and public sector, this is an exciting opportunity to develop this industry and add value to the rural economy in Wales.”
Meilyr Ceredig, managing director of Four Cymru, said: “We have extensive experience of managing this kind of project having designed and delivered the award winning Fork2Fork campaign, a recent long-term campaign to build capacity among primary food producers in Wales and then promote direct sales to consumers. This project is a great opportunity for us to make good use of our core bilingual services in communication and marketing to help information sharing among producers, suppliers and stakeholders and promote the benefits of Welsh game meat more widely so that Welsh businesses and consumers benefit from a healthy and tasty, local food source.”
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