Stuffing, live plucking

Imports of Martini geese increased in the previous year

Thousands of grazing geese cackle in Burgenland's meadows. Imports from Hungary or Poland, however, are cheaper to produce a roast Martinigansl with a side dish ...

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Georg Hummer, stock.adobe.com)

More Martini geese were imported into Austria last year: According to Vier Pfoten, the figure was 1774 tons - compared to 1370 in 2022. Imports from Hungary in particular increased. Both stuffing and live plucking are practised there.

Geese from Hungary or Poland are significantly cheaper than Austrian geese. "Unfortunately, the animals are the big losers in this greed-is-cool mentality - alongside the consumers who eat meat from tortured animals," says campaign manager Veronika Weissenböck.

The fact that restaurants do not even have to state where the geese come from and how they were kept is more than unfair to consumers.

"Be annoying and ask carefully"
 In general, Vier Pfoten believes it is important that anyone who absolutely wants to eat Martinigansl should definitely opt for Austrian pasture-raised goose or Austrian organic goose. The husbandry conditions here are much stricter than in the rest of the EU. When visiting restaurants, it is advisable to be "annoying" and always ask carefully.

Stuffing and live plucking are cruel practices that have long been banned in Austria.

Only 30 percent of the supply comes from within the country
On average, every Austrian enjoys a goose dish every year. Overall, 70 percent of the geese that are plucked in Austria come from abroad. Martin Mayringer from the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture estimates that a similar number of tons will be imported this year as in 2023. A lot is being imported from Hungary and Poland in particular and offered at cheap prices. However, domestic production is stable; the average farmer in Austria has 200 geese.

Foreign livestock farmers, on the other hand, experience large fluctuations in quantities, partly due to epidemics. Prices have also risen there, as feed costs are much more significant. The animals are fattened in a few weeks and then slaughtered. Hungarian geese are also usually deep-frozen, and there have already been cases where they were not even from the current year.