Australian Wagyu Meat

Wagyu Beef

When the term Wagyu beef is used, it's most often referring to the any of the 4 breeds of Japanese cattle:

• Japanese Black
• Japanese Brown/Red
• Japanese Polled
• Japanese Shorthorn

Where some confusion might appear is due to the fact that the meat is distributed labelled with the name of the region where the meat originated.

One of the most exciting aspects of wagyu meat is the marbling. And in order for you to understand the quality of the meat you are purchasing, we are outlining the grades here below:

• Grade A - there is a higher percentage of usable meat
• Grade B - there is an average percentage of usable meat
• Grade C - there is a low percentage of usable meat

In each of these grades, there is then a numerical classification between 1-5 that lets you know the quality of the fat, the colour of the meat and how even the marbling is across the meat.

The Difference Between Tajima, Kobe, and Wagyu Beef

When it comes to Japanese beef, there can be some confusion over what exactly we are talking about. Hopefully we can clear up some of this confusion by outlining the definitions below:

• Wagyu Beef - This literally translates into English as Japanese cattle. As mentioned earlier, it can cover any of the 4 breeds of Japanese cattle.
• Kobe Beef - You can refer to our information regarding Kobe Beef and what makes it special for more information, but it refers to cattle that have pure Tajima lineage meet strict quality scores.
• Tajima Beef - This specifically refers to meat that comes from the Tajima bloodline of Japanese Black cattle, one of the 4 primary breeds of Japanese cattle.

As you can see from these short points, whilst many will use the above terms interchangeably, there are specific reasons to use the right term for the right piece of beef.