Game dealers and processors are warning of significant strain in the small game market as demand for partridge has dropped sharply this season. Export markets have tightened, with European processors citing partridge as more costly to process than pheasant. Brexit-related hurdles have added further disruption, leaving dealers facing difficult commercial decisions.
Ben Rigby Game, based in Essex, has moved away from small game entirely after 45 years handling up to 40,000 birds weekly, now focusing on venison instead. “There’s no money in small game,” said managing director Ben Rigby. Other dealers are narrowing their intake. Warwickshire-based BG Game Meat is prioritising existing clients for partridge collection. Managing director Hugo Saunders said: “Apart from the shoots that we’ve worked with for years, we’re not taking any other partridge on at all.” The challenge is so acute that some dealers are charging for collection rather than paying for birds, underlining the extent of the market imbalance.
Against this backdrop, charitable organisations are highlighting the opportunity to redirect supply. The Country Food Trust, which produces meals using game for distribution to food banks and community kitchens, says demand for donated meat far exceeds supply. Chief executive SJ Hunt said: “We can take all of it. Give it to the Country
Food Trust and it will feed people in need.” The charity is now developing small game hubs to make donation more accessible for smaller shoots.
Eat Wild is also calling for longer-term solutions through better communication between shoots and dealers. Chief executive Louisa Clutterbuck explained: “We need to be thinking about the whole supply chain. Not just ‘can I sell all my days?’ but ‘if I sell my days, will all my birds be taken?’”
While shoots are being encouraged to maximise take-home use and charitable donations in the short term, industry voices agree that sustainable forward planning is critical to safeguarding the small game sector.