It is working with Copenhagen-based Japanese restaurant Umani and the Søren Vester farming enterprise to produce Kobe-style meat from pure-bred black Wagyu herds.
The initiative builds on a 2008 trial when the first-generation Wagyu cattle were born though embryo transfer, with Danish cows as surrogates. The fertilised embryo was sourced from a Wagyu herd in the USA. The tri-partnership’s goal is to develop up to three commercial-sized Wagyu herds in Denmark. The Søren Vester herd, located near Viborg, is the first of these.
This agreement details how the creation of Denmark’s first commercial-sized Wagyu herd will proceed: Friland will assume responsibility for meat processing, marketing and distribution in close consultation with master chef Francis Cardenau, co-owner of the Modern American Steak House (MASH), Umami and Le Sommelier restaurant chains.
Home-grown Danish Kobe meat from the new Søren Vester Wagyu herd will be supplied to domestic buyers and will be served at the MASH steak restaurant, which opened in Soho, central London, in 2012. Friland also supplies specialist organic beef and pork meat to high-end supermarkets, such as SuperBest, in Denmark.
"Production of Kobe meat is now growing. This is a speciality meat in a niche market where the main customer is high-end restaurants," said Danish Crown spokesman Jens Hansen.
In Denmark, the first test Wagyu cattle were slaughtered in 2010. As part of the trial run-in period, and to guarantee highest quality, the Friland processing plant handling Wagyu cattle developed a proprietary system of hi-tech scanner analyses to determine marbling, colour and fat quantity in each animal. The Kobe meat, which is genetically predisposed to intense marbling and produces a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat, is then hand-inspected by MASH technicians.
The first Wagyu cow was sold in Denmark in 2010, achieving a price of DKK74,350 (€9,963), a record for a Danish animal for slaughter. The two-year-old bullock had a carcase weight of 340kg, corresponding to a price per kilo of beef fillet of around DKK800 (€108).
"This project, and our cooperation with Friland and Søren Vester, is intended to ensure our restaurants have a reliable supply of high-quality Kobe meat from pure-bred Danish Wagyu herds," said Cardenau. All beef served in the London MASH restaurant is imported from Denmark, he said.