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The buffalo meat market already was on an upswing when the U.S. government announced Dec. 23 that a single cow in Washington state had tested positive for mad cow disease.
But since the announcement, which sent commodity cattle prices plunging, the bison industry has been hanging onto a wild ride and hoping the last month's increase in inquiries and sales will translate into long-term market share.
"The last few weeks, the question of the hour has been 'Is this going to last?"' said Bob Dineen, president and founder of Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, which sells bison meat to grocery store chains such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats.
I don't know how to answer that. Hopefully we
gain some new customers. We dont compete with the beef industry. We're an alternative."
The number of inquiries about bison meat rose immediately after the announcement two days before Christmas, but in the weeks since, the inquiries have translated into additional sales, say buffalo meat marketers.
"Every order we received, we had a second call saying they needed to increase the order," Dineen said.
Ted's Montana Grill, a national restaurant chain founded by media mogul Ted Turner and partners, reported sales of bison entrees soared 30 percent over the previous week's sales, Dineen said.
The animals technically are bison, not buffalo, in North America. But marketers are...