Marketing activities of Kaposvár University's deer farm

Abstract

In 1985 a research program started at Kaposvár University to examine the possibilities of breeding deer under farming circumstances in Hungary. Owing to conscious developmental work and a continuous increase in wild game numbers, the deer population has become the largest in Hungary in the hands of a single owner. Over the past 25 years, numerous professional successes and new scientific results have been achieved here. The discovery of different marketing possibilities has been an important aspect of our work from the beginning. Based on experiences in New Zealand, we produced game and velvet antlers first, then moved into the fields of breeding and hunting. Income from these activities allowed the farm to expand continuously for a decade. During this time we built our own game processing plant, where we began to process and sell game in 2004. In the past three years, the sale of live animals has taken a back seat to quality meat production and hunting. The sight of deer has always been a great attraction, and an increasing number of visitors come to the farm to get acquainted with different types of wild game and to learn about hunting and game management. During a visit our guests can taste delicious specialties made of game, an important element in introducing our products and services. Today we coordinate the whole production process from grassland management to hosting in Bőszénfa. We have the opportunity to oversee our products and services at every level. With the direct marketing of different products we hope to put our products proudly on the table of even the most demanding customers.Keywords: game management, red deer selling, game meat, hunting, tourism