Japanese Buying U.S. Beef

Japanese retailers and restaurants selling U.S. beef are running short of supplies, according to media reports.  The Den grilled beef restaurant chain exhausted its stock four days after putting U.S. beef back on the menu at its 57 outlets.

“Its popularity was greater than expected,” said an official with the chain.

The Zenshoku restaurant chain also put U.S. beef back on the menu.  “We want our consumers to be able to choose what they want,” said Zenshoku’s Chief Executive Shigemi Oishi at a press conference.  “U.S. beef is their leading choice since it is tasty, tender and reasonably priced.”  Oishi said he visited U.S. beef plants and feedlots to confirm the safety of U.S. beef now provided at his restaurants.

Yoshinoya D&C Co., which operates about 1,000 “beef bowl” restaurants in Japan, plans to resume selling U.S. beef Sept. 18, but the chain can only offer it on a limited basis due to the inability to secure supplies.  Company President Shuji Abe said the chain will have just one million servings, which are likely to sell out before the day is over.

C.G.C. Japan Co., a cooperative buying organization for supermarkets, indicated that five member companies will resume selling U.S. beef., Japanese media reported.  The five retailers indicated they are responding to requests from customers.  The operators are located in Tokyo, Chiba, Miyazaki and Ishikawa prefectures.