Our venison in Journet, France, is one of the best on the market in terms of quality, texture and flavour. Discover Le Bois Clairet's fine meats here!
A salutary success in this end-of-year period
Venison is classified as a red meat in the same way as beef, horsemeat, mutton, etc. People choose venison for two reasons:
- as an occasional meat for a feast. As a result, it is during the end-of-year period that most venison finds a buyer. In this context, the use of venison in restaurants is also relevant: people go to restaurants and want to eat what they don't have at home.
- because of the specific properties of venison, which form part of a healthy diet. Venison contains very little structural fat (young animals for slaughter: 0.5%). It also comes from animals that make it difficult for producers to alter. In fact, deer do not tolerate intensive rearing or regular handling by humans. Nor are deer prone to the diseases that plague conventional farming. There is virtually no use of medicines, and no residues in the meat. Clearly, while the health aspect is important, it is not wise to eat venison once a year: it should be eaten much more regularly as a replacement for fattier meats.
Comparison of our product with import and hunting
All venison is safe, even if it has been imported. So it doesn't matter whether it's been hunted or farmed. Most European venison comes from New Zealand. The production systems there are similar to ours in Europe. However, the big difference is freshness: our venison does not have to travel long distances to reach the consumer.
New Zealand venison, if not frozen, is always vacuum-packed for months before arriving in your kitchen on Christmas Day in Europe. During this time, it undergoes autolytic changes that make it mushy and give it a distinctly sour taste. You don't have to be a connoisseur to recognise that our fresh product is the best. Because meat from locally reared deer doesn't have to be transported to Europe from the other side of the world, it has a much smaller carbon footprint.
Wild venison also enters the market. This comes from hunting. The problem is that we don't know the age of the animal killed. What's more, we don't know the conditions under which it was hunted: the stress of a hunt reduces the tenderness of the meat, which is clearly reflected on the plate. A young stag, pulled from a perch in the wild without having been hunted, makes fine game. However, as a consumer, you have no idea of the hunting method used to kill the wild deer whose meat you are buying, or how old the animal is. As a result, wild deer meat is often disappointing. This is why many people think deer meat is tough, which is precisely not the case with meat produced on the farm from young animals.
What's more, the trade often allows meat from hunted deer to age (too) long to make it more tender. Wild deer meat then loses its strong gamey flavour.
Buying meat from us?
From autumn 2024, venison will be available for local collection. In the future, we hope to be able to supply our customers with vacuum-packed venison in dry ice, which is very practical for long-distance deliveries.
We also always have deer antlers available. Buyers use them as decorative pieces or as dog bites.
You can also contact us via the contact page if you would like to buy meat from us or find out where you can buy it in your area.