British Game Alliance

The British Game Alliance (BGA) was formed with the aim to increase demand in order to return a commercial value back to British game meat. Launched in May 2018, the BGA laid out its plans for the season ahead. Fast-forward 12 months; the BGA has published a comprehensive end of season summary report to the industry.

Now approaching its 500th shoot-member to join the initiative, new markets for game have also been secured at home and overseas as well as the support of shooting and government organisations.

The end of season summary report for the 2018/19 season covers a commercial update, key shoot achievements, challenges and services, as well as details of the in-house and external marketing strategy that has been put in place, to promote the BGA and benefits of game meat to the industry and wider public.

British Game Alliance Chairman, Ivan Shenkman, said, “This has been an astonishing inaugural year for the British Game Alliance. The BGA has achieved far more than the founding members believed was possible in the early stages. We are well on the way to achieving many of our initial objectives and planning many exciting developments for the future.” 

Commercial Key Stockists

The BGA team have found great success in opening new markets for game, particularly with venues and wholesalers who have not previously had game on their menus. Confirmed key stockists, include Consortia, Restaurants, Wholesalers, Hotels, Retailers, Pubs and Bars, Caterers and Food Ingredient Suppliers.

Notably, alongside a series of high-profile hotel groups including the Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels Group and Splendid Hospitality and Grosvenor Pubs, the BGA has continued to secure deals with world-renowned restaurants and wholesalers such as, Harrods, Fortnum and Mason, Selfridges Food Hall and The Ned, to name just a few.

To assist the BGA and its credibility in the marketplace, the team have been seeking influential industry ambassadors that will support their cause and have Lord Mark Price, Former Managing Director of Waitrose and Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Mark Samworth and Nigel Haworth on board, to name a few.

Key Shoot Achievements

The BGA have over 400 shoot-members already signed up and are nearing the 500^th mark. Notably, 33% of these shoot-members received an audit last season, with the aim to audit the rest of the remaining member shoots in the next 18 months.

The BGA has also obtained fantastic support from many members of the shooting community, in the form of BGA Ambassadors, who all believe in a sustainable future for shooting and for game meat. These include Ian Coghill, Ex-Chairman of the GWCT, Dylan Williams of Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Tom Payne, Author of Pigeon Shooter’s Diary and Marcus Janssen, Brand Director of Schöffel Country, to name just a few.

Assurance Scheme Update

The BGA has successfully launched the Assurance Scheme and Standards and now have eight auditors trained to complete the assessments across the U.K. The team were trained with the help of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust at Loddington and GWCT in Scotland for Grouse Moors.

Marketing

In house and external Marketing is an important area of the BGA’s work. In promoting game to the wider public through the BGA’s Eat Wild campaign, they have also launched an industry targeted PR campaign, with a focused drive since November 2018.

Eat Wild was created to further stimulate people’s awareness and interest in game. This initiative compliments and works in conjunction with other industry bodies such as BASC’s ‘Taste of Game’ and the Countryside Alliance’s ‘Game to Eat.’ Further activations from this work include regular game recipes and updated BGA stockists’ pages, seeking to create a demand to make and source game-based meals.To read the full end of season summary for 2018/19, you can download it here: britishgamealliance.co.uk/season-summary-2018-2019