ABSTRACT
In Bavaria, hunting plays not only an important role in regional food, traditions, and culture, but also has an important impact on maintaining biodiversity in woodlands. After the extinction of almost all large predators, larger herbivores such as red deer have no natural enemies. Thus, hunting can balance and regulate the population of herbivores and reduce browsing. However, one of the challenges for hunters is to market venison. As a consequence of various food scandals in the past decade, an increasing number of customers demand more transparency, freshness, and good production standards. Venison can fulfil these societal demands to a certain extent. However, up to the present day, the marketing of venison by hunters themselves has proven to be a challenge and, as a result, the meat is mainly sold to traders. Thus, a number of regional marketing initiatives have been established to better link hunters and consumers, involving them directly in the regional marketing process.
