A HIGHLAND firm has been awarded a contract worth more than £1.5 million for processing culled deer.
Ardgay Game has landed the deal for the deer culled by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).
Ardgay, based in Bonar Bridge, joins Dundee-based firm Highland Game - which processes the deer carcasses from nine other areas around Scotland - as an FLS partner.
The firm recently completed a £1m infrastructure investment which increased deer processing capacity by 37%.
The new contact is worth around £306,000 annually over five years. The contact will begin from April 2025, and will hope to create two full-time and nine seasonal jobs.
Ruaridh Waugh from Ardgay said: “This partnership with Forestry and Land Scotland marks an exciting new chapter for Ardgay Game.
“We’re honoured to work alongside Highland Game, a long-standing leader in the venison industry, as we both champion the growth of sustainable, high-quality Scottish venison.”
He added: “With growing consumer awareness around health, sustainability and low-carbon food choices, wild Scottish venison is perfectly positioned to meet these trends.
“We look forward to collaborating across the industry to realise its full potential and help put Scottish venison at the forefront of sustainable eating.”
FLS said a partner in the Highlands would help transportation and other costs be kept as low as possible.
Anton Watson, FLS's head of wildlife management, added: “Deer management is fundamentally important for our woodland creation and habitat conservation work.
“An important aspect of that is having the necessary, behind-the-scenes infrastructure in place to help us get Scottish venison to market and on to people’s plates.
“Ardgay Game is excellently placed to work with us in the north of Scotland.”
