TOKYO, March 29 — The Japan Livestock Products Export Promotion Council (J-LEC) has stepped up efforts to expand exports of Japanese wagyu beef as the meat is gaining global popularity.
The group has published guidebooks on Japanese wagyu beef in English, and Cantonese as well as Japanese. The guidebooks were set to distribute to hotels across the country from April.
The guidebooks include some recipes that use Japanese wagyu beef, “so that overseas visitors can enjoy the rich taste and fine texture of wagyu beef when they return home,” said a J-LEC official.
The group has also produced promotional videos on Japanese wagyu beef to be aired for passengers on board several airlines, including Air China Airlines.
It emphasizes the differentiation between Japanese wagyu beef and other wagyu beef from countries outside Japan such as Australia and the United States.
The move coincides with Japanese government quests to boost the export value of wagyu beef to 25 billion yen by 2020. That is a part of its 1 trillion yen target in agricultural exports by the same year.