NEW YORK — Silver Fern Farms, New Zealand’s leading red meat producer and exporter, is making delicious venison products available for purchase at Safeway supermarkets across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Silver Fern Farms’ versatile ground venison and skillfully selected venison medallions will now be available in 216 Safeway stores in the region.
Venison offers a delicate and richly distinctive tasting experience for people who are unfamiliar with the lean red meat option. Venison is tender, has a delicious flavor and is an excellent source of protein, iron and other important vitamins and minerals.
Venison is a more premium and nutritious alternative that can be just as easy to prepare as more common types of red meat. Ground venison, for example, can be used instead of ground beef to make a diverse variety of meals, such as lasagnas, burgers, or meatball dishes. Venison medallions come pre-portioned, which saves cooking time, and offer exciting meal possibilities for the home cook to enhance the daily dining experience.
Historically, New Zealand has the world’s most advanced deer farming industry and, as such, the country is the top source of farm-raised venison across the globe with half the world’s farmed deer population, amounting to one million deer on 2,000 farms.
Silver Fern Farms follows in the country’s footsteps and goes beyond to produce pasture-raised venison that is distinctly infused with the natural beauty of New Zealand landscapes, where deer are humanely raised free-range and where venison is produced following international quality criteria. Silver Fern Farms red deer forage through massive pastures that range from glacial-carved valleys to rolling foothills and sweeping plains.
The velvety texture and natural grass-fed flavor of Silver Fern Farms venison makes it an excellent option to spice up any meal. For ideas and cooking tips, Silver Fern Farms provides expertly curated venison recipes on their site to guide cooking enthusiasts and experienced chefs alike.
“Venison has been a staple of New Zealand for years and we are excited to expand our pasture-raised venison offerings to customers in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska at Safeway stores,” says David Patragnoni, USA Country Manager. “We work hard to produce our high-quality venison and are proud to be able to bring our products from luscious New Zealand pastures straight to customers doors. We hope people will fall in love with our venison’s delicately flavored meat and create unique recipes that enhance their experience at the dining table.”
This Safeway venison launch is Silver Fern Farms’ newest expansion campaign in Albertsons Companies supermarkets in the U.S., following their previous venison retail launch in over 500 Midwestern Jewel supermarkets, Star Market, and Acme Markets earlier this year and the company’s most recent addition of lamb and venison medallions to Jewel stores across the Midwest.
Silver Fern Farms currently exports grass-fed beef, lamb, and venison to the U.S. from 14 processing plants throughout New Zealand. In 2019, Silver Fern Farms entered the U.S. consumer market with branded 100% grass-fed beef and lamb, and pasture-raised venison packs distributed in supermarkets in the Tri-State region of New York, and New Jersey, and is expanding into the Midwest, New England, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska. In November 2020, they launched a new e-commerce platform us.silverfernfarms.com, making their range available for delivery to consumers across the continental US.
ABOUT SILVER FERN FARMS: Silver Fern Farms is New Zealand’s largest grass-fed lamb, beef, and venison producer, supplying the United States from the rolling pastures in New Zealand and striving to set the world standard in red meat. Starting as a small farmer co-operative in 1948, they produce 30% of all New Zealand lamb, beef, and venison in partnership with 16,000 farmers, and export to over 60 countries.
ABOUT ALBERTSONS COMPANIES: Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. Albertsons Cos. operates stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs, as well as meal kit company Plated based in New York City. Albertsons Cos. is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2018 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the Company gave over $262 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and Veteran’s outreach
