July 23, 2007

More Japanese restaurants patronise New Zealand beef

Grass-fed New Zealand beef is now on the menu in an increasing number of Japanese restaurants due to NZ beef's good animal health status and its compliance with the food-safety records, according to Meat and Wool New Zealand.

The group refers to the recent report issued by the Nikkei Marketing Journal that says some companies have switched from Australian or US beef to New Zealand beef because as it has never had a case a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and because cattle are fed with only grass and are not treated with antibiotics.

Among the restaurants who have shifted from Australian to New Zealand beef is the Tengu chain of restaurants operated by Ten Allied. The company is now using New Zealand diced beef since September last year.

Meat and Wool New Zealand said its 150 restaurant chains have 2,500 servings of New Zealand beef, double from the volume of Australia beef served.

The Coucagno restaurant in the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel switched from US to New Zealand beef in 2003 when BSE was detected in the US product, said the group.

Toshinori Sogabe, the restaurant's executive chef, said New Zealand beef flavour is good and fits the recent trend towards healthiness.

Since it was established in 2002, the Beniya steak house chain, which now operates nine outlets, is now using New Zealand beef in its two key menu items, steaks and hamburgers.

Arossa Restaurant, which opened in Tokyo's Ginza district in April, is an example of a restaurant pushing the kiwi theme in a more unusual way. The New Zealand-themed restaurant offers a hangi-style dish with both beef and lamb as well as separate grass-fed beef and lamb dishes and a wide range of other New Zealand foodstuff, together with three New Zealand beers and over 300 New Zealand wines.

Meat and Wool New Zealand Japan Representative John Hundleby says the group os encouraged by the good response of the Japanese market to New Zealand beef, especially after Burger King in Japan has announced its decision to only use New Zealand beef products.

Japan is currently New Zealand's third-largest export beef market in volume and second largest by value. The market share for New Zealand beef in Japan has more than tripled from 2.1 per cent in 2003 to 8.5 per cent in 2006.