Grouse grow up late for start of the season

The Glorious Twelfth on Saturday marked the start of the grouse-shooting season, but many shooting estates were holding fire until the grouse have had more time to mature.

Craig Stevenson, managing director of game supplier Braehead Foods in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, said that there were too few grouse shot last weekend for him to fulfil an order to New York. Stevenson added that he expected supplies to be "few and far between" over the next month because a late laying season means many birds were still too immature to shoot.

He warned chefs against paying "crazy" prices for grouse in the meantime. Some suppliers were reportedly charging £18 a bird in London, more than double the normal £7 price tag. However, a spokesman for London-based butchers Nigel Fredericks said: "None of our suppliers have told us there are any problems."