Japan’s obsession with marbling seeps into U.S.

The winning beef animal, whose carcass was prized for its leanness and marbling, sold for a swoon-worthy $226 per pound. (Since it ended up in the freezer, one could argue winning has its disadvantages in the beef category.)

Monica Gokey

George Owen, executive director of the American Wagyu Association, says the extreme price aligns with an extreme infatuation with beef quality – marbling traits in particular.

Although Wagyu’s propensity to marble well is what initially catapulted the breed into the world spotlight, the breed is experiencing a new vein of fandom among American grass-fed producers.

Growing demand

Retail sales of grass-fed beef have roughly doubled each year since 2012, according to a report by the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Despite the soaring demand, grass-fed beef is still beleaguered by a reputation of poor meat quality. Producers looking to change that perception are increasingly looking to two Japanese breeds notorious for their marbling traits – Wagyu and Akaushi cattle.

Owen points out the suitability of Wagyu for grass-fed producers is twofold. “The ability of Wagyu to marble, extreme marbling, is genetically programmed into them,” he says. That trait elevates the beef quality whenever Wagyu is crossed with another breed, usually Angus in the U.S.

“The other unique thing about the Wagyu is: The older they get, like around that 2-year age range, they flip and switch, and really start to amp up on marbling,” Owen says.

That trait is particularly useful for grass-fed producers, who will sometimes carry cattle past 24 months to reach slaughter weight.

The term “marbling” refers to the intramuscular fat stores of an animal. In reference to beef quality, high-marbling traits help producers meet the Prime grading mark.

Despite the hubbub about beef quality, Wagyu wasn’t originally developed as an animal for consumption.

Wagyu’s roots are as a draft animal, Owen says. There’s a working theory (emphasis on “theory,” he adds) the breed’s marbling qualities were a source of quick energy needed for labor.

Wagyu didn’t come to the attention of beef gourmands until after World War II. Before then, beef wasn’t really on the menu for the Japanese, Owen says.

Even today, Owen describes the way Japanese people eat beef as totally different than how it’s consumed in American culture. “They eat much smaller portions. Nobody would sit down and eat a 12- to 14-ounce steak,” he says. That’s led to a Japanese culinary culture that values rich meat quality.

(The Japanese infatuation with extreme meat quality doesn’t stop at beef; Kurobuta pork and Jidori chicken are other examples of this cultural value projected on livestock.)

Jojo Carrales is the vice president of cattle operations at HeartBrand Cattle, the largest seedstock producer of Akaushi genetics in the U.S.

Like Wagyu, Akaushi is also notorious for strong marbling traits.

akaushi steak in Japan

Carrales and colleagues traveled to Japan last fall to visit the breed’s birthplace, a mountainous region in the southern part of the country.

“Highly marbled cattle genetics are all over [Japan],” Carrales says, but different regions are very breed-specific and breed-loyal.

When they flew into the local airport, Carrales said they were surprised to see signs welcoming travelers to the “home of Akaushi cattle.” He likens the Japanese beef culture to French wine culture, where each region has its specialty, and devotees are loyal to what they love.

Carrales was there, in part, to compare the local Akaushi cattle with what they raise at HeartBrand Cattle in Texas.

“My biggest takeaway was realizing what we had in the U.S. was of very high quality,” he says. Some of the traits he looked for in particular were growth, muscling and milk production.

The biggest difference was scale. “Their production models are quite a bit smaller,” Carrales explains. “One producer might have 10 to 20 head of cattle.”

Success in the U.S.

In southern Idaho, Akaushi has become a mainstay of the Howard family’s cattle operation, which sells grass-fed beef under the brand name Desert Mountain Grass-fed Beef.

Bob Howard heard about the Akaushi breed through a rancher in west-central Idaho named Phil Davis.

“He wanted to be in grain-fed; I wanted to be in grass-fed,” Howard says. They both wanted to produce better beef.

Fast-forward nearly a decade, and both are major Akaushi producers in the West. But the Howards are one of the pioneering families using the breed as an integral component of their grass-fed business.

Desert Mountain Grass-fed Beef can be found at grocery stores throughout the inland Northwest and as far west as Seattle. But it hasn’t always been an easy sell.

Grocers tended to be skeptical of the quality at first, Howard says. Buyers would tell him things like, “Our customers really want grass-fed beef, but we don’t eat that stuff.”

“A lot of the meat cutters (and buyers), because they’re used to grain-fed beef, they’re not converted until they try an Akaushi steak,” Howard says. Most who’ve tried it, though, are pleasantly surprised at the meat quality, he adds.

Desert Mountain uses Akaushi bulls in a predominantly Angus herd for their beef product. That sweet spot of 50 percent Akaushi is what’s made their brand so successful, Howard says.

“It’s just fascinating how well they marble,” he adds. “But it’s not just that; it’s texture and tenderness, too.”

All Desert Mountain beef is DNA-tested by an outside group to verify it’s half-Akaushi.

“Third-party verification is our way of doing what we say and saying what we do,” Howard says.

As demand for grass-fed beef grows, so does the demand among retailers for third-party verification. Relying on breed notoriety is one way to ensure retailers of beef quality.

Relying on other product labels, like the one administered by the American Grassfed Association, is another.

Carrie Balkcom, executive director of the American Grassfed Association, says they’ve seen a growing demand for the AGA label on beef products.

“The marketplace is changing. Retailers are now requiring third-party certification programs because consumers are asking for it. The USDA isn’t set up to make a true grass-fed claim,” Balkcom adds.

When it comes to Akaushi and Wagyu, “it’s the American palate and what they like. They like marbling,” Balkcom says. “We have a couple of producers who are really pushing it, usually crossing with Angus.”

As the grass-fed beef sector blossoms, well-marbled breeds are emerging as a means for producers to add consistency and fat quality to a product that has long been criticized for being the opposite.