Exotic crisps were on the menu at Stormont when members of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s All-Party Group on Country Sports sampled grouse and pheasant flavours, thanks to the UK’s largest shooting organisation The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).
The crisps, which come in two flavours, Grouse and Whinberry and Smoked Pheasant and Wild Mushroom, are being marketed through BASC’s Taste of Game programme.
Speaking after the APG meeting, BASC NI director Tommy Mayne said: “While game is becoming increasingly popular in NI, it can still be difficult to get some consumers to try it for the first time. BASC is keen to make the taste of game more accessible and to promote game to a wider audience and these delicious crisps help us achieve that goal. “
Crisps are an ideal way of introducing consumers to new tastes – over six billion packets of crisps are sold in the UK each year. The crisp packaging highlights the important link between game and conservation: The Grouse and Whinberry packs carry the message “Managed heather moorland is home to the red grouse. 75% of the world’s heather moorland is found in the UK. It’s rarer than rainforest.” The Pheasant and Wild Mushroom packs say: “Management of hedges, fields and woodland for pheasants benefits threatened species such as dormouse, yellowhammer and grey partridge.”
BASC is encouraging its members and all who shoot to help introduce the taste of game to as wide an audience as possible by recommending the crisps to pubs, restaurants and hotels
The Taste of Game crisps are made from 100% British, home-grown potatoes and are sliced with their skins on and batch-cooked in award-winning cold pressed rapeseed oil. The crisps come in 40g packets in single flavour boxes of 24 and have a three-month shelf life. They can be ordered from the Taste of Game website at www.tasteofgame.org.uk
Picture: MLAs Paul Girvan and Trevor Clarke sample Pheasant and Wild Mushroom crisps in the Northern Ireland Assembly’s senate chamber.