British Wagyu – Britain’s leading beef brand

British Wagyu has made great strides not only in accelerating the breeding of Wagyu cattle but in marketing British Wagyu beef through the retail, wholesale, foodservice and e-commerce space. A large part of this success lies in the integrity of the product, its traceability and its branding with many customers now familiar with the British Wagyu Assured logo used in marketing and on retail packaging.

Read on as we continue to delve into British Wagyu in our series of articles in The Grocer over the next 12 months in order to give you greater insight into Wagyu beef!

Where does Wagyu come from?

Renowned as the world’s luxury beef - and famed for its exceptional marbling, tenderness and eating quality - Wagyu is a breed of cattle originating in Japan which, since the late 1970s, has spread far and wide to dominate the culinary scene globally, winning numerous awards worldwide. Wagyu is synonymous with luxury beef.

Quality & Branding

Look out for the British Wagyu Assured logo on packaging. This means that the beef comes from farmers who are not only Members of the British Wagyu Association (BWA) but have adopted our set of high standards around animal health and welfare as well as quality and traceability. All our farms are Red Tractor assured (or equivalent) and these standards are independently audited on-farm. This is Wagyu but with a British twist – slow grown by UK farmers and predominantly pasture-raised according to BWA standards, and with the UK’s reputation for world-leading animal health and welfare.

British Wagyu Assured logo

Where can I buy?

Aldi & Waitrose offer British Wagyu Assured products in the retail space through their long-term contracts with the UK’s leading producer, Warrendale Wagyu. Look out, too, for British Wagyu from a myriad of farm shops, wholesalers, butchers and online boxed beef schemes to name a few - many with their own branding and USPs. Check out the WHERE TO BUY section on our website.

British Wagyu-branded sirloin steak in Aldi

Waitrose No.1 Range with British Wagyu branding

What exactly is Marbling?

Wagyu cattle have a natural propensity to produce beef that is beautifully marbled. Before tractors came along, cattle (we might call them ‘oxen’) were used as draught animals to pull carts and plough rice fields in Japan so needed to lay down IMF (intra-muscular fat) to give them slow-release energy throughout the day. Wagyu fat melts at a lower temperature than butter to give the beef a juicy, tender and delicious flavour. In the UK, marbling is measured with a Meat Image Japan camera to independently verify the marbling and to give our beef a Marble Score rating (generally on a scale of 1-10+).

Why buy British Wagyu

The UK imports Wagyu from a number of countries including Japan, Australia and Chile - and the quality is indeed excellent. Many consumers however do prefer to ‘Buy British’ – they tell us they like to keep food miles to a minimum, prefer pasture-fed animals and put a lot of trust in British farmers to produce quality beef that suits the UK palette.

Is Wagyu Beef Healthy?

Wagyu beef has higher levels of oleic acid (omega 9), a type of monounsaturated fatty acid that makes up about 52.9% of its fat content, compared to other beef. This fat is similar to olive oil and is known for promoting heart health. Oleic acid lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol and raises HDL (good) cholesterol, helping to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Wagyu beef's signature tenderness and rich flavour also stems from its high oleic acid content, which lowers the melting point of fat and enhances juiciness. In May 2025, the World Wagyu Council published ‘Health Benefits of Wagyu Beef’ – click HERE to read the full article.

What’s next?

Find out more about British Wagyu in The Grocer over the next 12 months as we delve further into these and other topics to give you greater insight into Wagyu beef! Please get in touch with British Wagyu Company Secretary, Richard Saunders, if you’d like to know more...

E: info@britishwagyu.co.uk W: www.britishwagyu.co.uk