Olive-fed Wagyu from Kagawa Prefecture is the world's rarest and most exquisite beef. Only 2200 cattle of the kuroge washyu breed are raised in Kagawa using the unique olive-based feed, and only a small fraction achieve the ratings necessary to officially qualify them as Olive Wagyu.
It's certainly true that Kobe Beef is far more famous, but it's also true that it is far from "rare". Kobe Beef is backed by a quite mature industry association in Japan, has a large production base and is distributed throughout the world. As of November 2017, there were only 21 restaurants in the US which served real Kobe Beef from Japan. A pretty small number, yes, but compare that to exactly zero stateside restaurants for Olive Wagyu (UPDATE: Crowd Cow is now proudly supplying The Silver Bough, with Olive Wagyu -- "California’s Most Insane New Restaurant Serves Olive-Fed A5 Wagyu").
When I first visited Masaki Ishii, Olive Wagyu's inventor in Shodoshima, Japan, he and the Kagawa Department of Agriculture told me they had no means of exporting Olive Wagyu to the United States commercially. By working directly with the small farms in that area, the governor of Kagawa Prefecture and a processor in a neighboring province, we were able to bring Olive Wagyu to the United States for sale online for the first time in 2018.
One of our customers recently asked, "what's printed on the Olive Wagyu labels on the packages?"
Here's my translation:
オリーブ牛
Used interchangeable for “Olive Cattle” or “Olive Beef”
黒毛和牛
Kuroge Wagyu
This is the name of 1 or 4 native breeds of cattle in Japan, and the 1 breed that is special for its genetic predisposition for intermuscular marbling. Learn more about Japanese Cattle Breeds.
オリーブに育まれる
“Brought up with olives” or “raised with olives”
讃岐牛
“Sanuki Cattle”
Sanuki is the ancient name for Kagawa prefecture from around the 7th century.
讃岐牛・オリーブ牛振興会
Sanuki Cattle / Olive Beef Promotion Council
商標録号
Trademark registration number