Eat Wild collaborates with Delaware North to deliver sustainable, nutritious food to the hospitality boxes at both London Stadium and Emirates Stadium, serving wild meat at the stadiums for the first time.
Eat Wild is the development board for British game, aiming to showcase wild game as it’s never been seen before whilst promoting assured meat; reared, and released to top welfare standards in the British countryside. Eat Wild champions the high welfare, nutritional benefits, and sustainability of game meat. Importantly, it offers people an easy education into the world of wild game.
In celebration of Great British Game Week 2023 (6-12th November), Eat Wild and Delaware North worked together to put wild meat on the menu of the executive boxes at London Stadium and Emirates Stadium as an industry first.
At Emirates Stadium, most people served opted for the venison dish that was produced; a slow braised venison cottage pie, seared loin, braised savoy cabbage, venison faggot, celeriac puree and a tayberry jus. At London Stadium, the dish was also warmly received by all diners and particularly enjoyed by those that had not had venison before.
Louisa Clutterbuck, CEO of Eat Wild said
“This is a landmark moment for Eat Wild – to get game on the menu of these two such prestigious stadiums is a real win as we are showcasing this high welfare, sustainable meat to a completely new audience. We’ve opened the door to a new avenue for game and are looking forward to developing its trajectory in this space and beyond, so that even more people can be introduced to the many benefits of eating wild meat.”
Leon Challis-Davies, Culinary Director at Eat Wild said
“Wild meat is not only healthier, but it’s also more sustainable than what we consume from our current meat-producing sector. It’s much more flavoursome too. Our mission is to introduce more people to the wonderful world of wild British meat, and to see it placed on the menus of these hugely popular stadiums really is a huge success.”
In preparation, Eat Wild took Delaware North on a journey from field to fork to give chefs a first-hand experience of countryside management methods and nose-to-tail dining experiences. Visiting an estate in Warwickshire, those involved were educated about the management practices involved in rearing and harvesting wild meat and the multiple benefits they have for countryside environments.
Wild game husbandry is essential to the maintenance of our landscapes, with game keepers developing habitats for the animals to thrive, managing woodlands and hedgerows, trees, and nature-friendly crops which are beneficial not only to wild game but the wider biodiversity. Put simply, it’s the most open range system of meat production you can wish for – working with nature to harvest meat from the countryside.
David Holder, Head Chef of Culinary, Emirates Stadium said:
“It was a refreshing experience to produce a ‘trio of venison’ menu for the directors, using every single cut from the sustainably sourced deer, ensuring minimum wastage, and creating superb flavour which proved so popular we actually sold out 10 minutes before kick-off.”
Gary Foakes, Executive Head Chef, London Stadium said:
“We were thrilled for the whole team to be working with some amazing wild, local and sustainable product, which was complimented with seasonal fruit and vegetables, and help educate people about the multiple benefits of eating it. The dish was served to our guests across the BM6 lounge and it was warmly received by all.”
