With animals forming part of our diet, it is inevitable that there is sometimes an ethical or moral dimension to our food choices. However, ethical concerns may prove decisive to the development of one area of the market – the consumption of exotic meat. Hugh Westbrook delves deeper.
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Defining the term exotic meat is hard – one man’s exotic meat is another man’s staple fare. Fans of quirky US comedy Northern Exposure will recall that the locals feast regularly on moose burgers – if Sainsbury’s or Tesco started stocking moose burgers it would be on the front page of the Daily Mail.
However, our increasing interest in pushing boundaries in everything we do means that there is now a market for kangaroo, ostrich and recently zebra. Is there room for development in this market?
Game dominates exotic meat segment
In marketing terms, exotic meat includes anything which is not a supermarket staple. Game meat, such as venison, represents the largest sector. In a recent report, Mintel said that the total market grew 17% in 1999-2004 to reach an estimated value of £41m (US$72.4m) in the latter year, with game forming 93% of that.
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By GlobalDataMintel says that increasing affluence and a perception of game being low in cholesterol and fat should continue to see sales increasing, but that lack of availability could hold it back. Traditional butchers or local markets are the optimum place to buy game, it says, although UK supermarkets are getting in on the act in their premium ranges.
The market is therefore open for those looking to develop a niche. One such company is UK-based Alternative Meats, which sells to local restaurants and hotels, while 40% of its sales are across the country through the internet.
Director Jeanette Edgar tells just-food consumers’ desire to try new things was the driver behind her company’s development.
Online niche
“There is a move away from boring supermarket meat which most of our customers complain about and they’re excited about seeing different and unusual things.
“There is an angle of health and fitness because of low fat and low cholesterol, while people are becoming more adventurous and they like a bit of fun.”
Edgar’s background was in ostrich farming, and she said it is now a big seller for the company, with half a ton being shipped per fortnight. In addition, veal is popular because it is unavailable in supermarket chains.
Other meats available include crocodile, wild boar and kangaroo, while Edgar says a large ex-pat South African community ensures sales of Kudu and Springbok antelope.
She says the company’s website helps people find its products, and they worked hard at ensuring it is easily available through search engines. “We also do food exhibitions and people sample it and when they do they love it. We offer information and recipes, and we find a lot of people our finding us on the internet that way.”
As for the ethical issue, Edgar takes animal welfare seriously. “People are so sensitive about the killing of animals so we have all the welfare taken care of.
“We can tell you exactly what’s happening to each calf for veal, while all the abattoirs we use in South Africa are EEC-approved. With crocodile, people are worried about killing them, but farmers want the skin so they can’t be ill-treated.
“We have to find an answer for everything because people ask.”
Vegetarian opposition to exotics
Whether Edgar has all the answers for vegetarian campaigning group Viva remains to be seen. Viva runs a campaign against the consumption of exotic meat and claims notable victories and says it is responsible for the fact that none of the major UK supermarkets stock exotic meats. It has also claimed a continental victory, stopping the transportation of horses from Poland to Italy to be used as meat.
Campaigner Justin Kerswell tells just-food that there are reasons why the consumption of exotic meat is different to eating ordinary meat.
“With farmed animals raised in this country, numbers are very managed,” he explains. “But with the exotic meat trade, specifically kangaroos, wild animals are not farmed in any way and numbers can fluctuate.
“A recent population crash, droughts and disease can hit wild animals very hard and can’t be predicted.” He adds that a tendency to hunt alpha males could also have the effect of reducing the quality of the gene pool in the future.
As for ostrich, he says it is “uniquely not suitable for farming. There is a high mortality rate from being raised in captivity. They are also very difficult to farm as they run miles in the outback and they are very difficult to slaughter.”
Kerswell says that the development of the exotic meat industry was “symptomatic of thrill-seeking. But people don’t know what’s going on behind the industry. If you tell people the realities they don’t want to be a part of it.”
Viva believes that by sending sufficient information to people trading in exotic meat, they can eventually be persuaded to stop. Kerswell says that he is already having success stopping the albeit limited trade in zebra meat which has started recently in the UK.
Thrill-seeking set to continue
It is clear that there is a demand for exotic meat which is unlikely to go away, and that demand is likely to continue to be fulfilled. However, it is a controversial area of the market, and it is highly unlikely that the big players will get involved. The only exotic meat we are likely to see on supermarket shelves will be restricted to venison, pheasant and other types of game.
There is also a possibility that exotic meat will disappear as a niche as well if campaigning against it remains strong. An interesting battle between those who wish to sell it and those determined to end the trade is set to develop.
