Japan’s per capita beef consumption is on the rise. It initially shot past 26kg per year around 1992, a year after Japan liberalised imports and, by 2000, it was nearly 28.5kg per year. However, a BSE scare occurred in September 2001, followed by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Miyazaki Prefecture, and multiple cases of illnesses brought on by consumption of raw beef. Each tragedy brought a drop in demand.
Now, reports the Nikkei Marketing Journal (1 July), beef consumption is enjoying unprecedented popularity. Part of the new appeal is credited to the serving of cuts that undergo dry ageing. One restaurant that offers such cuts is the 180-seat Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in Roppongi, which opened in February 2014. Its current monthly turnover of ¥130mn is reported to be nearly double the initial projections, spurring the operator—the WDI Group—to proceed with the opening of two more branches, in Marunouchi and Osaka.
In addition to male customers, female customers have been ordering generous cuts of 300g on the bone. With an average outlay of ¥13,000 per customer, WDI Group President Ken Shimizu attributed the restaurant’s popularity to “fulfilling consumers’ latent needs for high-quality meat”.
Statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications note that, in households of two or more people, demand for beef began to rise around 2013. At that time, average per capita consumption reached 29.8kg, and has continued to rise, even since the April 2014 increase in the consumption tax rate from 5% to 8%.
In the year from June 2014 to May 2015, barbecue speciality restaurant chain Gyu-Kaku reported that revenues at existing outlets rose year-on-year in nine of the 12 months.
According to Yukata Okudaira, managing director of Starzen Co., Ltd., a major meat-processing firm, the expanding customer base among seniors and females is a driving force behind the increase. Scenes of women dining together consuming meat and wine, he said, are also serving to promote demand.
“Red meat has had a reputation for being tough”, said Keiji Sano of Yorozu Co., Ltd. “But people have come to realise that when it’s dry aged, it becomes juicy and tender”.
The Nikkei Marketing Journal cites statistics from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is reportedly encouraged by the growing consumption of fresh meat products by seniors. Between 2010 and 2014, average monthly outlays for meat rose about 10% to ¥6,578 among those in the 50–54 age group; about 10% to ¥5,808 in the 60–64 age group; and 20% to ¥4,742 in the 70-and-over age group.
Supermarkets, meanwhile, have been promoting meat for consumption at home. In April, the Daiei chain launched a niku-pa (meat party) campaign, encouraging customers to enjoy home barbecue parties, and reported year-on-year sales increases of 50% or greater.
Future challenges will be to secure sources of beef at stable prices, while determining standards—particularly for dry-aged meat—that will ensure quality and safety. Shimizu said there is a need for the prompt adoption of safety guidelines, and warned that another crisis could throw cold water on the current boom.