Olive Wagyu

New to A5? Start with what Japanese Wagyu is and how it's graded.

How Olive Wagyu started on Shodoshima

Shodoshima is an island in the Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa, Japan's smallest prefecture. In 1908 Japan planted imported olive seedlings in three places to see whether the trees would grow. They took root on Shodoshima alone, and the island has pressed olive oil ever since.

Masaki Ishii fattened Japanese Black cattle there and sold them as Sanuki-gyu, Kagawa's beef brand. Some went to the Kakogawa market in Hyogo, which also sells Kobe beef. The same graders graded both, yet his carcasses often fetched ¥1,000 a kilo less. The market's president told him the gap was branding, and that Kagawa beef needed a character of its own.

The timing helped. Japan's October 2007 national wagyu competition measured oleic acid in the fat for the first time, and the next one would count it. Ishii looked at the island's olives. The cattle refused raw press pulp, which is bitter and astringent, and silage made from it rotted in the summer heat. A neighbor drying persimmons gave him the fix. Ishii spread the pulp on the shore to dry in the north wind, and the cattle ate it. He then split 60 head into seven groups to settle how much to feed and for how long.

In May 2010 Ishii and two other Shodoshima farmers launched Shodoshima Olive Beef. In 2011 Kagawa took it prefecture-wide with 30 farms and registered the Olive-gyu trademark on July 29. The promotion council that runs the brand formed in February 2012. Our co-founder Joe Heitzeberg has visited Ishii's farm and tells the story of the feed, along with why so little of it leaves Japan.

What Olive Wagyu cattle eat

Pressing leaves about a quarter of an olive's oil behind in the pulp. Feed makers on Shodoshima now dry that pulp in machines, stirring it in 212°F (100°C) air for about eight hours. Sun-drying took two weeks of turning by hand. The heat browns the pulp and gives it a caramel smell that draws the cattle to it. The finished feed carries about 15% crude fat.

The rule is short. Each animal gets at least 100 grams a day, about 300 olives' worth, for at least its final two months before shipment. Farmers sprinkle it over their usual finishing ration and keep the rest of their program as it was.

The animal also has to qualify as Sanuki-gyu: a pedigreed Japanese Black fattened in Kagawa whose carcass grades A or B for yield and 3, 4 or 5 for quality. The calves can come from elsewhere. Ishii buys some at the Tokachi market in Hokkaido.

What olive feed does to wagyu fat

Japanese Black cattle already lay down fat rich in oleic acid, the main fat in olive oil. In a typical Japanese Black ribeye, about half the fat is oleic acid. The more monounsaturated fat a carcass carries, the lower the temperature at which its fat softens.

Kagawa set out to push that share higher. The best-documented result came at the September 2017 national competition, held every five years and nicknamed the Wagyu Olympics. Kiyokatsu Shiota farms in Mitoyo, on Kagawa's mainland. His 23-month-old steer, fed the standard 100 grams a day for two months, measured 65.3% monounsaturated fat. The council compared that to a typical 30-month carcass. The steer won the competition's special Fat Quality Award.

We haven't found a published study that measures what the olive feed adds on its own. The market's verdict is on record. Within a couple of years of launch, Olive cattle sold for ¥100 to ¥200 a kilo more than other Sanuki-gyu at Kagawa's markets.

How to read the Olive Wagyu seal

The council's seal comes in two colors: gold for quality grades 4 and 5, silver for grade 3. The gold label reads "raised on olives", Sanuki-gyu, Olive-gyu and 黒毛和牛 (Japanese Black). Below that it carries two trademark numbers and the name of the Sanuki-gyu and Olive-gyu Promotion Council. Joe has translated the seal line by line.

The council also issues a meat certificate. It lists the quality grade, the carcass number, the carcass weight and the animal's 10-digit individual ID.

How Olive Wagyu eats next to standard A5

Grade decides most of what lands on the plate. An Olive A5 at BMS 11 and a Kagoshima A5 at BMS 11 share a breed, a grading system and a marbling score, so the difference sits in the fat. Japanese tasters sort wagyu into koku, a richness that lingers, and kire, a clean finish. The council puts Olive on the kire side. It also says customers tell them they can eat more of it, even at high marbling. That's the producers' description, so taste for yourself. An Olive A3 will eat closer to any other A3 than to an Olive A5.

How to cook Olive Wagyu

Cook it the way you'd cook any A5, with a lighter hand. Give it a full day thawing in the fridge, cut it into strips, and give each strip a short sear in a hot dry pan. Strip size, sear times and seasoning for Olive Wagyu.

When an allocation lands, it shows on our Olive Wagyu ranch page.