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Bife de Kobe vira alvo de pirataria (Valor Econômico)

By Diogo Shimizu Lima ⋅ July 8, 2008 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Original story here. Poorly translated, since the Portuguese word “bife” means “steak”. Time to quit being picky and go to the story itself, which is about Kobe beef piracy in Brazil:

“Bife de Kobe vira alvo de pirataria
Lilian Cunha, De São Paulo
07/07/2008

Apreciado pela extrema maciez, apesar dos preços elevadíssimos, o famoso bife de Kobe, preparado com a carne do boi wagyu, de origem japonesa, virou alvo de pirataria no Brasil. “Tem muito pecuarista que cria de qualquer jeito o animal cruzado e sai por aí dizendo que vende bife de Kobe”, reclama Sadao Iizaki, presidente da Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Bovinos da Raça Wagyu.

Iizaki já percebeu que vale tudo para conseguir os R$ 160 por quilo que pode custar a iguaria ao consumidor, e por isso lidera, com o Ministério da Agricultura e a Unesp de Botucatu, um trabalho para definir a padronização do “bife de Kobe brasileiro”. São apenas 30 os criadores de gado wagyu no país, que têm 800 cabeças de raça pura.“

Small observation: Kobe is known for having delicious treats. Not only the Kobe beef, but also butaman, breads and bakeries, sweets such as cheesecake, sponge cake, gaufre… The list goes on and on. But we are here to talk about agriculture, so let’s proceed to a quickie on the wagyu.

First of all, it is delicious!

I had already heard last year that Brazil raises wagyu cattle. Since the Japanese stopped exporting animals a few years ago, livestock began in Brazil by importing wagyu from the United States in 1992 — livestock began 14 years earlier there.

The Japanese wagyu was at first used as a draft animal, dragging carts along mountains. Agriculture became mechanized globally and livestock became a specialized activity — in Japan, this process began in the late 1960’s. Today cattle are confined mostly for a few reasons: 1-) grazing areas are rare in Japan, 2-) grazing is riskier than confinement, 3-) the average herd size is 5-10 animals and 4-) the selling price is largely influenced by the state of the animal’s skin, thus being more profitable to take good care of the animal indoors.

The myth that wagyu drinks beer is true! During the hot, humid Summer that goes from late July until early October, the oxen lose weight due to less appetite. So they drink a bottle of beer nearly everyday to stimulate appetite and keep the oxen weight. Cattle is also massaged due to the confinement. This relaxes the stiffness brought by the lack of exercise, reliefing the cattle’s stress. So it is also another form of stimulating wagyu to eat and gain weight.

Nevertheless both myths are important to keep a special aura around the wagyu, thus being an important economic reason to keep up these practices.

The Japanese have a grading system in which they classify the degree of marbling between meat and fat. Wagyu raised in Japan usually rate 10-12 in the grading system, or the highest level. Wagyu raised in Brazil only reach 5-9 in this scale, which results in a not-so-tender meat. Since an estimate on cost and benefit ratio places wagyu as being 15% more expensive to breed and 300% more profitable to sell, there is strong reason to believe on why mr. Sadao Iisaki is worried about meat piracy in Brazil.

Tags: History, Kobe beef, Meat, Valor Econômico

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