Japanese Wagyu Beef Promoted in Brazil

August 23, 2018

Sao Paulo- Some 100 Brazilian guests including local restaurant operators and journalists enjoyed tasting marbled meat at an event to promote Japanese wagyu beef held in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.

The event, aimed at selling the Japanese meat in Brazil, one of the leading beef-producing countries, was cohosted by the Japanese consulate general in the city and the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO.

In December 2017, the South American country lifted a ban on wagyu imports, but the luxury beef brand has yet to be distributed commercially.

Brazilians love to eat meat. But almost all dishes, including famous churrasco, use lean meat.

During the event, a popular television personality who is known as a gourmet hailed the rich taste of wagyu, saying that Brazilian consumers will definitely like it because they have grown more conscious about the quality of meat.

Jefferson Finger, chef at luxury churrasco restaurant Barbacoa, which has outlets in Japan, showed an interest in adding wagyu to its menu, saying that its high price would be a problem but it is worth studying.

Also on Tuesday, JETRO's Sao Paulo office formed an alliance with Alexandre Tatsuya Iida, who sells Japanese sake in Sao Paulo, to promote sake and other Japanese alcoholic beverages, whose popularity is growing in Brazil.

Iida, a Sake Service Institute-certified sake sommelier, said he, as a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian, is proud of being involved in promoting Japanese culture in the country, where he is the sake guru. Jiji Press