How naval orders could encourage the tinned-meat industry

Did the Royal Navy help encourage tinned-meat production after Donkin and Hall acquired Peter Durand's patent?

The suggested support was a strong assurance of future orders, rather than direct funding, making the initial industrial investment easier to justify.

The Admiralty could encourage investment through the prospect of orders, although it could not provide the money directly. The Admiralty Board, Victualling Board and involved officers probably gave strong assurances that successful production would attract contracts. Those assurances remain an inference about how the industry could have been encouraged. An initial supplier would enjoy a temporary monopoly while the process and production facilities became established. Large naval purchases would then make the market visible to competitors. The navy could accept several years of dependence in return for obtaining a capability that did not yet exist at the required scale.