FARMED venison sales are set to soar on the back of research revealing it is not only leaner than other red meats, but also comes up trumps in taste tests.

The findings will be used to promote venison sales, and if consumer surveys are anything to go on, venison farming could be heading for much more buoyant times.

Deer, mainly red and roe, have been farmed in this country since the 1960s, but the meat has never achieved a particularly high profile. But now research into improved venison quality by the University of Bristol has thrown up an impressive set of findings.

Analysis of samples found that fatty acids comprised only 1.2 per cent of the muscle weight – one-third of that found in beef sirloin steaks, or a quarter of that found in lamb chops.

In addition, the proportion of healthy, "essential" polyunsaturated fatty acids, or those that the body cannot produce, was much higher than in other red meats. The research programme was backed by ADAS, other industry groups and Waitrose and looked at the health properties of venison against consumer perceptions of the meat.

There are already 30,000 farmed deer in the UK, producing around 10,000 carcasses or 500 tonnes of farmed venison a year with a retail value of £4 million. A similar quantity is imported from countries such as New Zealand.

The industry has rapidly expanded from farm gate sales in the early 1990s and several major UK supermarkets are now looking to sell the meat.

While it is still not as popular as other meats, most people already have a positive perception of venison. Consumer surveys revealed 87 per cent of people who had already eaten it said they would do so again.

By far the most common reason given for eating venison was its taste and flavour, closely followed by health reasons, while consumers thought it to be "better than most meats" in terms of quality and taste.