TOKYO -- Japanese retailer Aeon will raise its own cattle for in-house-branded wagyu beef as the number of domestic breeders continues to decline while demand for the meat remains solid.
Supermarket arm Daiei recently took over operation of a cattle ranch in southern Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture in what is believed to be the first wagyu-breeding venture by a major Japanese retailer. The ranch now manages a herd of about 40 breeding females. By 2020, it is expected to be raising about 500 head of wagyu cattle a year. Daiei aims in about two and a half years to begin shipping wagyu it has handled all the way from breeding to fattening up.
Daiei, a unit of Chiba Prefecture-based Aeon, has been raising cattle for its own wagyu brand at a directly run ranch in Kagoshima. By adding stock bred in-house, it aims to increase its wagyu herd by 20% to roughly 5,500 in 2020.
The count of wagyu-breeding ranches in Japan has declined by about 40% in the last decade, owing in part to a shortage of new people entering the field. A major retailer with national sales networks, such as Aeon, getting into breeding should help stabilize Japan's livestock industry as well.
Daiei expects to slash costs 30% or more by procuring cattle internally. The in-house wagyu brand now sells loin for steaks at about 1,100 yen ($9.87) per 100 grams. Trimming production costs will likely let Daiei offer the meat at appealing prices.
(Nikkei)
