Even European countries with a long established history of gibier (wild meats) dishes largely depend on imports to meet their huge demands, according to the latest report on gibier imports in Europe compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan. The report said imports account for 70% of the gibier distribution volume in France and 40% in Germany. The Japanese government has set the goal of doubling the use of gibier with one of its focuses on the expansion of sales channels. The export to Europe is one of the future options, it says.
According to the report, in 2015, 11,400 tons of the wild meats were available in the French market while 8,000 tons among them were the imports from New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Europe, and many other countries.
The data for the German market is rather old but in 1998, as much as 45,000 tons of gibier were available in the market and they included 20,000 tons of imports, which account for 40% of this huge demand.
In May 2017, the Japanese government said that Japan wants to double the use of gibier by 2019. However, the country with small domestic demand is to begin by boosting the gibier consumption at restaurants. Furthermore, by building sales channels in Europe, the country hopes, it can secure stable customers for domestically hunted wild animals. “There is a huge demand for gibier in Europe, and so we see it as a promising future market for Japan,” the report said.