Will game go mainstream?
UK consumers tell us what exotic meats might interest them — and what they can’t stomach
Every year, trend-watchers claim that game meat — from venison to rabbit to duck — is about to explode amongst UK consumers, because of its rich taste, health benefits — or even because not being factory-farmed arguably makes it more ethical.
But if game is to break out, producers are going to need to convince people who have rarely, if ever, tried anything more daring than a chicken korma to try partridge, rabbit — or even pigeon.
That’s a tall challenge — so what are the obstacles?
We asked our bees in the UK what they thought about game, and what kinds they’d be prepared to try — and found two personas of potential customer whom game producers need to win over, if they are to increase their sales.
Regular eaters: Game for anything
First though, let’s quickly look at the existing market — people who eat game regularly. In fact they love it so much that over 9 in 10 (95%) eat it at home, more than at a restaurant (74%) or a friend’s house (48%).
As to what they’ll eat, it’s pretty much anything, and they are also mostly happy to butcher and prepare it themselves (although men (87%) are keener on this bit than women (63%)).
But why do they eat it? Well, most (3 in 5) think it’s better for you than normal meats:
“Some of these meats have a certain taste to them that I like better than farmed animals, like pheasant compared to chicken or turkey,” said a 29-year-old man.
“It is delicious and not so tampered with by supermarkets, as they do with chicken,” said a 39-year-old woman.
In fact, we found that the only factor holding this group back from eating even more game is price — almost 9 in 10 said that they would buy it more regularly if it cost the same as conventional meats.
Occasional buyers: Game for a laugh?
This is the key demographic for producers to influence: people who have eaten game a few times in the past, and would consider doing so in the future. It was a large group in our study, representing 2 in 5 of those surveyed, with a regular distribution across gender and age groups.
When this group eats game, it’s likely to be at a restaurant: 3 in 4 would eat game there, but only 1 in 2 would do so at home.
However, when asked where they would consider eating game in the future, those figures go up, with 8 in 10 saying they’d try it at a restaurant, and 6 in 10 at home. This suggests that there is interest amongst this group in eating game more often, given the right opportunity.
Unfortunately, this group is much pickier about what it will eat. While duck and pheasant are more fancied here than they are even with regular game eaters, most other meats are less appealing, while rabbit (-16%) and pigeon (-20%) are much less popular.
“I quite like trying alternative burgers like boar, and it would mainly be for curiosity. It would probably be something I could put on a BBQ to try with friends for something different,” said a 42-year-old woman.
This group is also much less sure of the health benefits of game, with over 1 in 2 (51%) unsure whether game is healthier than conventional meats — much greater than regular consumers. Convince them that game is a healthy alternative, and there’s a huge amount of upside for producers here.
Not tried: Don’t hate the player, hate the game?
This group represents those who haven’t ever tried game, but would consider doing so in the future. It’s mostly a younger group (3 in 5 are under-35) that skews female (2 in 3 are women).
This group is open to trying game at a restaurant (63%), but is much less confident about trying game at home (37%) — in fact, they’d prefer it if a friend cooked it for them instead (39%).
When asked whether they’d be prepared to try game in the future, 3 in 4 said ‘it depends on which animal it was” — and there was one clear winner:
Yes, duck is as popular here as it is with other groups, suggesting that the Chinese restaurant favourite could be the way to get people used to eating game.
However, we also see other meats becoming even less popular, and those who haven’t tried game before are especially opposed to trying animals that might seem more familiar, like rabbit and pigeon.
This group was even less sure about game’s health benefits, with almost 3 in 4 not knowing whether game was better for you or not. And price isn’t so much of a factor either; only 61% would buy more game if it were the same cost as conventional meats, suggesting it’s the type of meat and a fear of eating it that’s holding this group back:
“It’s meat like any other, so there is technically no reason why I couldn’t eat it, but I cannot imagine eating pigeons or rabbits, for example,” said a 32-year-old woman.
“The thought of eating a bird? No thanks!” said a 47-year-old woman.
And perhaps putting the issue completely into context:
“Game animals are cute!” said a 19-year-old woman.
Duck, duck, goose?
There’s a huge potential market for game producers to tap; we found lots of people who don’t regularly or ever eat game now, who said they’d give it a try. But how to get them to do so? Well…
“Certain types of game are extremely tasty and are a good quality meat. The meat is an acquired taste though. I personally like venison and have eaten that a few times in a French restaurant,” said a 38-year-old woman.
The key here is that single word: acquired. Once people get the taste for game, the survey shows they may well become semi-regular consumers, and potentially frequent customers; but it’s hard to get them to take that first step.
The gateway drug? Duck. Overwhelmingly, people who might eat game in the future are prepared to try duck now.
So what does this mean for producers? Well, it’s about education — and perseverance. We suggest a two-pronged strategy: push the healthy and ethical aspects of game, while also convincing restaurants to keep taking more appealing wares alongside duck — especially venison, boar and goose — as that’s where newcomers to game are more likely to try and enjoy them.
With that approach, there’s a much greater chance that one day, customers might graduate from chicken to regularly eating partridge, rabbit — or even pigeon.
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from Streetbees global community of members, carried out in May 2018. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 3 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
