While South African red meat producers are still debating the issue of traceability, the local Wagyu society’s members have already proven what’s possible when transparency is maintained about the origin of their meat – market dominance in the domestic market and growing export opportunities.
By Vida Booysen, Senior Journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
At the Wagyu Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa and its certification body, Certified Wagyu Beef (CWB)’s congress in Frankfort, Fritz Bezuidenhout, executive head of the Wagyu organisation, told African Farming demand for Wagyu meat, especially in local markets, is currently very high.
“We slaughter about 600 carcasses per month. This is about 20% below market expectations, and our available stock of animals is currently scarce.”
This is because it takes at least three years before Wagyu meat, popular for its marbling, flavour, low-fat melting temperature and health benefits, is ready for market. “A Wagyu goes through a whole number of feeding phases to reach the point where it’s market-ready. This causes fluctuating cycles within the market, and the long timeframe is also one of the main reasons why the meat is so expensive.”
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Traceability: From Farm To Fork
Our value proposition lies in offering something special to clients, says Deja Nienaber, co-founding member and vice-chairman of Protea Reserve Co, a cooperative wholesaler of Wagyu meat products that supplies to Woolworths, among others. “Over five years, I’ve seen remarkable growth and appetite for our products in South Africa. Demand exceeds our current supply, and I believe opportunities exist to grow the local market share by 25% annually.”
Bezuidenhout says traceability is old news for the South African Wagyu industry. “We realised from the beginning it must be part of our management system that also measures meat quality from farm to consumer’s plate.”
If you take a DNA sample from the Wagyu steak you’re enjoying, we can tell you where the animal was raised, says Nienaber. “Traceability from farm to fork is indeed a major competitive advantage for Wagyu producers. It makes South African Wagyu beef internationally competitive and gives us an edge over other countries that don’t have similar protocols.”
Unique Certification System
South African Wagyu competes for the same foreign markets as Australia and America, and consequently, the local industry must continuously develop new systems to stay ahead, says Bezuidenhout. “The more innovative we are, the better we can perform in the foreign market. All our carcasses, for example, are graded with our own techniques; it’s not South Africa’s classification system that’s used, we do our own grading.”
Every carcass is scanned with a special camera that measures the eye muscle size (the so-called “ribeye” area) as well as the marbling, and finally the fat and meat colour. These aspects determine the value. “Then we give the carcass a value score and it’s marketed according to that score.”
He says the local industry’s Certified Wagyu Beef system is not used anywhere else in the world. “We manage every individual animal on its own merits; it’s a very intensive process, and every animal’s sustainability is investigated.”
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It’s also part of the breed’s management system in South Africa that no growth hormones are used. Every animal is gradually fed over a long period so that the fat is deposited in the cells within the muscle structure – and not just on the outside. “Our quality assurance that our meat is hormone-free is also, like the other aspects we claim, independently audited,” says Bezuidenhout.
Naturally, there are challenges, Nienaber admits. “Export protocols remain unresolved; sustainably balancing the carcass and consistently supplying the market requires ongoing efforts. Nevertheless, I’m incredibly excited about the future and what we can achieve together.”
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