Survey of the marketing concept for organic goat meat in the Netherlands

Summary

Goat meat is a new product for the Dutch consumer. Establishing this new market requires entrepreneurial skills and persistency. In the Netherlands there is a small group of pioneers who has gained a fair amount of experience with rearing goats and marketing goat meat. This study specifically maps their experience. The survey included short questionnaires and interviews by telephone. It is to be expected that (organic) goat meat will more often appear on the menu in the near future, given the enthusiasm and positive comments of the group of trendsetting consumers and cooks. Q fever unfortunately has tarnished the image of goat meat somewhat, but it is expected that organic goat meat will gain popularity step by step, slowly but surely. Joint initiatives such as geitenvlees.com are crucial to scaling up and professionalising the market. However, for many organic goat farmers the market for goat meat is still very difficult and small. For some of them a better alternative is to limit the birthrate by prolonging the milking period.