When it comes to beef and steaks there are good steaks, great steaks, and then there is Japanese A5 Wagyu beef. I won’t get into a ton of the background info on Japanese A5 Wagyu beef (more posts coming soon…) but just know when it comes to beef the A5 Wagyu is the pinnacle. It is rare, hard to find, very expensive, and totally worth it if you get the chance to taste it. You will never find this type of beef at your grocery store or local butcher but I put together this list of where to buy Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef so you can try some of this amazing beef yourself.
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If you are too lazy to read here are my three suggestions for where to buy Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef:
- Pursuit Farms – Great selection of the top Wagyu brands (Omi, Kobe, Hokkaido Snow, Kagawa Olive Fed, etc.) and they ship fresh, not frozen. My #1 recommended source.
- Crowd Cow – One of the first US companies selling A5 Wagyu beef. Kagoshima and other brands available. Ship frozen.
- Meat N’ Bone – Good selection of hard to find cuts. Mainly Miyazaki brand Wagyu. Ships Frozen.
Without getting into all the details, Japanese A5 Wagyu beef only comes from Japan. Wagyu in the simplest terms is a generic term for Japanese black cattle. These cows are specifically bred and raised with unique genetic qualities that produce an insane amount of intramuscular fat. This results in some amazing marbling and a very luxurious texture and taste.
Very little of it gets exported every year and there are only a handful of retailers that carry it here in the US. Some high end restaurants will carry it and there are a few very high end butchers in some big cities that carry it from time to time but by far the best option to buy Japanese A5 Wagyu is online.
You can see above the crazy marbling you will get with a real Japanese A5 Wagyu steak. Don’t get confused with American Wagyu or Australian Wagyu. Those steaks are excellent but usually only half wagyu and half angus or holstein or some other breed. There are a few full blood Wagyu ranches here in the US but their beef doesn’t hold up to the Japanese A5 Wagyu.
The “A5” in Japanese A5 Wagyu refers to the grading system Japan uses for their beef. Again, I won’t get into it too much right now (hopefully a post will be coming soon but in the mean time here is some good info) but A5 is the highest quality you can get.
So, let’s get into it…
Where to buy Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef
Pursuit Farms Japanese A5 Wagyu
Pursuit Farms is my #1 choice for where to buy Japanese A5 Wagyu beef. There are a handful of other places to buy it but Pursuit Farms is a step above them.
There are a number of different brands of Japanese A5 Wagyu. Kobe is the most common one but some others are Omi, Hokkaido Snow, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and others. As you might expect some of these brands are better than others. All of them look great but there is a big difference in flavor and texture. Pursuit Farms is one of the only retailers that specifically focuses on the higher end brands.
The picture above is the Strip Sampler from Pursuit Farms. On the left is an Australian Wagyu steak (Pursuit does sell more than just A5 but that is their bread and butter), in the middle is an olive fed strip, and on the right is an Omi strip.
Another thing that separates Pursuit Farms from other retailers is they ship their Wagyu beef fresh, not frozen. If frozen properly there is very little degradation in the quality of a steak. But a frozen steak isn’t quite as good as a fresh steak. If I was going to spend the money on an A5 Wagyu steak I would definitely want the highest quality I could get.
Here are a few of the different brands of premium Japanese A5 Wagyu you will find at Pursuit Farms:
Olive Fed Beef – The Olive Fed beef comes from the Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku. As the name says this beef eats the olive pulp that is left over from the olive oil production process. A rancher hated seeing that pulp go to waste so he tried to feed it to his cattle. The cattle hated it at first but after trying and roasting the pulp it brought out the sweetness of the olives and the cattle loved it. Because the cattle are eating olives the oleic acid content in the fat is among the best you can get.
Omi Beef – Omi beef is the oldest brand of Wagyu that dates back to the 15th century. This beef is from the Shiga prefecture and only 6000 cattle are shipped every year.
Hokkaido Snow Beef – Pursuit Farms is only 1 of 10 places in the world where you can buy this beef. The snow beef comes from northern Japan and spends most of their life in freezing temperatures. There are only 2 cattle harvested every month so you know it is rare and hard to come by.
Here is a video I put together about the 3 steaks I got from Pursuit Farms:
Pursuit Farms sells individual steaks but they also sell a bunch of different combo packs. A sampler pack like pictured above (that one will run you around $550-600) is a great way to go and gives you a chance to try a few of the different brands. If you really want an experience go with one of their big Wagyu packages that run up to $1000 or $2500 or even more. For $2500 you can get a big box of 27 different steaks which would make for an insane bachelor party or 50th birthday or something like that.
If you are going to spend the money on a Japanese A5 Wagyu steak you will want to ensure you are getting the highest quality. Erik from Pursuit Farms is passionate about providing the highest quality meat you will find anywhere in the world. Shop for Japanese A5 Wagyu at Pursuit Farms and you won’t be disappointed.
Crowd Cow Japanese A5 Wagyu
Crowd Cow was one of the first retailers I saw that sold Japanese A5 Wagyu beef. They have a different product selection from time to time but generally speaking they sell Kagoshima A5 Wagyu. There is nothing wrong with Kagoshima but it isn’t quite the same quality as most of the steaks you will get from Pursuit Farms.
They have individual steaks available (ribeye, filet, strip loin, etc) as well as larger roasts and even some A5 Wagyu Briskets from time to time.
Along with the Kagoshima Wagyu you can also buy real Kobe A5 Wagyu which is among the best of the best. Crowd Cow also carries some olive fed Wagyu but that isn’t always available due to the scarcity of that amazing beef.
Along with Japanese Wagyu you can also find all types of grass fed and grain fed beef, pasture raised chicken, pastured pork, and sustainable seafood. Shipping is free on orders over $100 as well.
Shop for A5 Wagyu at Crowd Cow.
Meat N’ Bone Japanese A5 Wagyu
Meat N’ Bone is a retailer out of South Florida. I have tried some of their non-Wagyu steaks and so far I have been very impressed with them.
One thing I really like about Meat N’ Bone is they have a better selection of cuts than most including cuts like Miyazaki Japanese A5 Picanha steak and roast and even an A5 Wagyu Denver steak.
Again, the products ship frozen, not fresh. And they Miyazaki brand is one of the lower level brands of A5 Wagyu beef. They will still be amazing steaks and better than almost anything you have ever eaten. Meat N’ Bone has solid prices as well.
Buy Japanese A5 Wagyu from Meat N’ Bone.
If you end up buying some Japanese A5 Wagyu beef drop me a message on Instagram and let me know. You can also hit me up there with any questions on how to cook your Wagyu steaks or anything like that as well.
