Matsusaka wagyu is the most expensive beef in the world. It had never been sold outside of Japan — until now - video Dailymotion

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Grown exclusively in the Mie Prefecture in Japan, Matsusaka cattle are raised so their fat achieves the lowest melting point possible. The finest cuts of Matsusaka wagyu have a melting point of 12 degrees Celsius, 8 degrees lower than Kobe.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 The fat in this Matsusaka Wagyu is so soft,

00:07 it melts as soon as you touch it.

00:09 The finest cuts of Matsusaka Wagyu

00:20 have a melting point of 12 degrees Celsius.

00:23 That's eight degrees less than Kobe.

00:26 And while prices for fine diners in Tokyo

00:28 have never been low, for the first time,

00:31 this beef is being sold outside of Japan, in Paris,

00:35 where just 100 grams sells for $530.

00:40 These cows are so valuable that in 2002,

00:44 one fetched 50 million yen, over $330,000 at auction.

00:49 To reach that low melting point,

00:53 farmers in Matsusaka painstakingly raise these cows

00:57 and keep them alive longer than their average lifespan

01:00 with modern and ancient practices.

01:03 So how do you raise the most expensive beef in the world?

01:09 And why is Matsusaka Wagyu so expensive?

01:13 (speaking in foreign language)

01:27 (speaking in foreign language)

01:32 Hiroki Ito is a third-generation Matsusaka Wagyu farmer.

01:36 On his farm in Tsu, Mie Prefecture,

01:40 you will find only virgin female cows.

01:43 It's the primary requirement

01:45 for any of the 80 Matsusaka Wagyu farms

01:48 here in the Mie Prefecture.

01:52 (speaking in foreign language)

01:56 Matsusaka beef has long been praised

02:11 for its extremely low melting point,

02:14 which is half that of other types of Wagyu.

02:16 This means that when cooking,

02:20 the fat melts in a shorter time.

02:23 (speaking in foreign language)

02:27 To reach this intense marbling,

02:47 old generations of farmers like Hideo,

02:50 Hiroki's dad used to feed cows with beer.

02:54 (speaking in foreign language)

02:58 (speaking in foreign language)

03:01 (speaking in foreign language)

03:05 Although there's no evidence

03:31 that this practice increases a cow's appetite,

03:34 many associate Matsusaka Wagyu with it.

03:37 The fact that Matsusaka has kept

03:39 a relatively low profile internationally

03:41 has almost transformed this practice into a legend.

03:45 (speaking in foreign language)

03:50 (speaking in foreign language)

03:54 Hiroki doesn't practice this anymore.

04:05 Instead, he has perfected the feed

04:08 and is practicing circular agriculture.

04:10 (speaking in foreign language)

04:17 (speaking in foreign language)

04:21 The cost of feed is an important factor

04:45 that drives the prices up.

04:47 To reach that soft marbling,

04:49 Matsusaka cows need to eat a lot.

04:53 They also need to eat for a much longer time

04:55 than other cows.

04:57 (speaking in foreign language)

05:00 Matsusaka cows are raised for 30 to 32 months,

05:03 six months longer than other Japanese black cattle.

05:07 Everything adds up over time for Hiroki.

05:10 The costs of feeding, temperature control,

05:13 air circulation, and cleaning the enclosures regularly

05:16 to avoid flies.

05:18 (speaking in foreign language)

05:22 Farmers here call this raising period fattening.

05:31 For the first three to four months,

05:33 cattle eat grass to develop a strong digestive system.

05:37 This is called the belly creation period.

05:40 Then comes the finishing period

05:42 where cattle gradually switch to concentrated feed

05:45 and rice straw to fatten up.

05:47 Hiroki is now experimenting

05:51 with even longer periods of fattening,

05:53 raising his cattle from 35 up to 40 months.

05:57 But raising cows for such a long time

05:59 can also be dangerous for Hiroki

06:01 as a cow could get sick and die.

06:04 (speaking in foreign language)

06:09 (gentle music)

06:11 A cow at the end of its fattening period

06:32 is a true treasure.

06:34 Every year, Matsusaka cows get auctioned off

06:37 and one gets crowned queen of Matsusaka.

06:40 While the highest ever price for one of these cows

06:43 was 50 million yen in 2002,

06:46 this auction has never really seen a low price,

06:49 averaging around 20 million yen.

06:52 Events like the auction have also fostered another legend,

06:57 that farmers in Matsusaka massage their cows with alcohol.

07:01 This time, it is not to improve their appetite,

07:05 but their appearance.

07:07 (speaking in foreign language)

07:36 It's not just adult cows that cost a lot.

07:39 Calves can be very expensive.

07:41 Hiroki doesn't raise his cattle from birth.

07:48 At 10 months old,

07:49 calves are also sold at auctions throughout Japan.

07:52 Hiroki spends almost half of his time at work buying calves

07:57 and he's very demanding.

07:59 (speaking in foreign language)

08:03 (speaking in foreign language)

08:07 (speaking in foreign language)

08:11 (speaking in foreign language)

08:16 (speaking in foreign language)

08:43 BMS-12 is the highest marbling grade for Wagyu in Japan.

08:48 The more intense the marbling, the higher the price.

08:52 For customers in Tokyo,

08:53 100 grams of sirloin costs 10,000 yen,

08:57 but that's still much less than what Parisians are paying

09:01 at Maria Garnier, where the same cut is sold at 360 euros.

09:09 The most premium cut, tenderloin,

09:12 sells for 5,000 euros per kilogram.

09:15 (speaking in foreign language)

09:21 (speaking in foreign language)

09:25 (speaking in foreign language)

09:55 The Paris restaurant was the first

09:57 to successfully export Matsusaka Wagyu out of Japan

10:01 and include it on its menu.

10:03 Its most expensive tasting menu costs 520 euros.

10:08 Matsusaka Wagyu is heavily regulated.

10:14 To include Matsusaka beef on the menu,

10:16 the restaurant had to follow strict rules.

10:20 The Paris restaurant needed to apply for a license,

10:23 which took a year to be accredited.

10:25 To maintain it, the restaurant needs

10:27 to have a high rating on Google,

10:30 and there can't be another restaurant

10:32 serving Matsusaka Wagyu within an 840-meter radius.

10:37 As of 2023, Hiroki has shipped

10:40 only three cows to Maria Garnier.

10:43 Due to this limited supply, the 520-euro menu

10:47 with Ethel Ranch's premium tenderloin

10:49 is served to only one table per day.

10:52 This exclusivity is set to get a little bit looser.

10:56 In the last 10 years, Japan has been a major importer

11:00 of US beef, importing an average of $1.83 billion a year.

11:05 Meanwhile, millions worth of Wagyu made the opposite journey

11:10 as it reached international fame.

11:13 A decline in tourism after the COVID-19 outbreak

11:16 and a change in consumer behavior

11:18 toward cheaper meats exacerbated this.

11:21 And now, Japanese cattle farmers

11:24 are looking outside the country's borders.

11:26 The export quota for Matsusaka

11:29 has jumped from 24 in 2022 to 700 in 2024.

11:34 Of those, it's the most premium cuts that are exported

11:39 going to high-end restaurants like Maria Garnier in Paris.

11:43 This is pushing farmers who want to ship abroad

11:46 to bet on those lucrative

11:48 but dangerous long-fattening periods.

11:52 (speaking in foreign language)

11:56 (cow mooing)

12:05 (upbeat music)

12:07 (upbeat music)

12:10 (upbeat music)

Matsusaka wagyu is the most expensive beef in the world. It had never been sold outside of Japan — until now

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