making wagyu with
consistent quality.
Bringing wagyu youʼll want to
eat again and again
to the world.
Wagyu isn’t just beef, it’s premium quality beef born of Japanese tradition and culture. It was originally considered something special to be enjoyed with all five senses, not just taste.
But due to the strong trend of emphasizing marbled beef in wagyu, today the market is flooded with beef that has lost its inherent great flavor. Many consumers inside and outside Japan complain that wagyu is “too fatty” and they “don’t need so much of the white parts.”
For over 20 years I have been working to produce wagyu cattle that brings out the most of the beef’s natural flavor. I believe that letting people experience its genuine flavor is the best way to spread wagyu beef around the world.
I want to continue giving people consistently great taste that makes them want to eat it again once they try it. Our unwavering high quality is the basis for the trust placed in the TUW (Toriyama Umami Wagyu) brand, and its consistent flavor and quality have been recognized by food professionals and foodies worldwide.
Light fat you can savour to the last bite.
We often hear comments from restaurant chefs like, “When people order TUW dishes, there are no leftovers” and “Toriyama beef is wagyu you can keep eating.” The key factor that determines the taste of beef is the quality of the fat. What sets TUW apart from the standard heavily marbled wagyu is that we have pursued high quality fat. One of the reasons for this difference is the duration we raise our cattle.
Oleic acid is a mono-unsaturated fatty acid that is closely connected to the quality of mouthfeel. It increases proportionally to the duration cattle are raised. This can be proven with the measurement data of the beef produced at our farm. Conversely, cattle raised a short time have a high amount of saturated fatty acids. These have a higher melting point, so the meat doesn’t melt in your mouth and leaves a heavy oily mouthfeel.
In other words, since TUW fat contains a high amount of oleic acid, it melts quickly at body temperature, leaves a clean aftertaste, and doesn’t make you feel bloated. So you can eat a lot and it tastes great until the last bite.
TUWʼs strength is quality,
built based on trust with cattle producers.
For nearly 10 years, we have worked to scientifically prove and visually demonstrate what makes wagyu beef delicious. We have accumulated far more data than other suppliers in Japan and strive to improve the quality of our wagyu at our farm based on this data. Today exported TUW consists of cattle raised at Toriyama Farm and at carefully selected contracted farms. As our network of farms grow, we strive to eliminate inconsistencies among producers to ensure that we always provide consistent quality.
What helps guarantee that our quality remains consistent is the data we have accumulated over many years. We researched the factors that make beef taste great which cannot be explained with only the Beef Marbling Score (BMS) and analyzed meat quality based on multiple categories, including how and how long cattle are raised by bloodline and growth stage. This resulted in enabling us to explain based on scientific grounds what makes fat quality better and why our balance of meat and fat is superior. This is the strength of TUW that differentiates us from other brands.
Recently, the mindsets of the producers we partner with have changed greatly. Emphasis has switched from market trends and productivity to how to deliver truly delicious meat to consumers.
What we are focusing on now is how to ensure that as many people as possible embrace the philosophy we believe in. Japanese quality is world-renowned and markets outside Japan place more importance on the fact that a product was made in Japan rather than on the specific region in the country it was produced. What the world thinks of us is more important than what individual regions do. That is why we need to broaden our horizons, strengthen our product network, and enhance the value of Japanese wagyu as a whole.
The potential of secondary cuts—creating new value for wagyu.
Utilizing secondary cuts is an important key to getting more people to enjoy wagyu. Incorporating the right cuts and culinary techniques will create new value for wagyu and lead to unique menu items and a wider variety of products.
However, because food culture differs by country and region, we don’t just export our beef; we also suggest what cuts and culinary techniques are the best fit for the local food culture.
Using secondary cuts is also important in terms of sustainability. Consuming not just premium cuts but the entire cattle without waste will result in sustainable food use. The TUW brand not only offers premium steaks, we also suggest the best ways to eat each cut. Preparing the right cuts by taking into account the direction of the grain and texture of the meat and using the optimal culinary techniques for each cut make it possible to use the entire cattle without waste.
We are expanding the potential of wagyu beyond just steak by suggesting a wide range of ways to enjoy it—from shabu-shabu, sukiyaki, and stewed to roasting and grilling. Developing unique menu items that incorporate secondary cuts will allow restaurants to differentiate themselves and approach more customers.
Building the future of wagyu through science.
We have ventured into the uncharted field of demonstrating the relationship between taste and DNA and taste and the duration cattle are raised with our partner producers. Establishing a production method based on scientific evidence instead of relying on intuition and experience is essential for fundamentally improving the quality of wagyu beef.
The current trend of prioritizing productivity in the livestock industry has accelerated. But the flavor of wagyu is determined by a combination of many elements including bloodline, fat quality, and raising duration. We analyzed this data in pursuit of a more accurate method of ensuring great taste.
BMS is still the standard way of evaluating wagyu in the market. Prioritizing meat that looks heavily marbled and shortening the standard raising duration to save on feed costs have become widespread in the industry. But consumers don’t know the difference. Although the meat might look the same, this production method has a big impact on the taste. Seeing this as a problem, we have made it our mission to offer delicious wagyu beef that you can keep eating. That is why we conduct genomic analysis of breeding cows and bulls to ensure the meat is of consistent quality down to the genetic level.
Another thing we place importance on in improving production is starting the improvement process at the dinner table. With livestock, it takes three to four years to see the results of improvements. That is why we don’t change production methods because it is convenient for the producers; we reexamine our production methods based on customer feedback. The food scene is always changing and diversifying. By carrying out production in response to such changes, we can guarantee outstanding quality in three years.
This is more than just a trend. We believe that production based on scientific evidence should be the new standard in wagyu production. The producers, business partners, and clients we work with worldwide all share this belief. We carry out beef cattle production that is sustainable and has consistent quality by leveraging the vast amounts of data we have at our fingertips. And we will continue to take on challenges to build the future for wagyu beef.
