Why is marbling important? An exporter’s perspective.
Back to Contents
Robin B Hart AM
Chairman of Stockyard Meats, PO Box 90, Jondaryan, QLD 4401
Phone: (07) 3221 4700
(Also Kerwee Lot Feeders Pty Ltd, Phone: (07) 4692 2277; Email: klf@kerwee.com.au)
Abstract. This paper presents the beef exporter’s view of marbling
and its importance in meeting the specifications of valuable markets.
Around 62% of Australia’s beef production is exported. The Japanese
market is now our most important market in dollar value. Marbling is
now a more significant trait in the Japanese market, reflecting
consumer preference rather than trade agreements or market
quotas. Japanese tastes and cooking styles are well suited to chilled,
marbled beef from Australia. Premium prices are paid for beef that
meets these specifications. Both Japanese and Korean markets are
likely to continue in this direction, with less emphasis on imported
grass-fed product. This paper provides an insight into the Japanese
consumer’s attitude to the appearance and flavour of beef products.
Australia must maintain contact with such consumers to understand
their preferences for marbled beef from the right genetics, the
correct production system and appropriate post-slaughter chilling
procedures. In the future, marbling will continue to achieve
prominence in the Japanese trade, but will likely expand in
importance in Australian and Korean markets.
If there has ever been any doubt as to whether or not marbling is important to our
beef industry, surely the very concentration of attention at this impressive conference
clearly demonstrates we all believe it is very important to the future of our beef
market. Why it is so important clearly needs answering further, and as to how we
achieve the degree of marbling required in various markets is the most tantalising
question of all. A question I suggest over which we will keep meat scientists,
geneticists, nutritionalists, stud breeders, commercial cattle people, lot feeders, and
processors extremely busy for many years to come.
The on running challenge to all this is how we can further our knowledge, ability and
our reliability to produce marbling. I am sure it will be an on running challenge but,
this is no criticism of the conference, its organisers, or its speakers, but rather to make
the point that this is a very elusive subject. The importance of concentrating our
efforts, as we will in the next two days, with the aim of pinning down the answers to
resolve this problem is highly commendable. If we do not get all the answers we are
sure going to have a lot of fun trying and our appreciation must go out to the
wonderful organisation known as ‘The Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef
Quality’ and all who serve it for this initiative.
I have been asked to speak on the ‘Why marbling is important’ as an exporter’s
perspective. Let me assure you, in my opinion, marbling is an extremely important
attribute sought after by our customers. Successful exporters must listen to and
deliver their customer needs so that to me, this gets my focus on delivering the degree
of marbling required.
Lets establish a couple of points to get our focus right. The Australian beef industry
depends heavily on export (Fig. 1). We actually export around 62% of our production.
Therefore, our overseas customer demands have a big influence on our production. If
we are not supplying and satisfying their important demands, we will simply lose
market share.
Figure 1. Destination of Australian beef.
In value terms, Japan is Australia’s most important market (Fig. 2). Japan is also our
most challenging market as the customers there are very particular and demanding
about the quality and specification of the beef they require. Our ability to consistently
meet, and exceed these demands, is important to maintaining and expanding our
market share in this valuable market. There is clearly a demand for marbling in various
degrees up and down the quality scale. But why has this only become apparent in
recent times?
Figure 2. Value of Australian beef exports to the major destinations (Japan, USA,
Korea, Canada, Taiwan).
Marbling has not always had the high degree of importance as it has now in our
current North Asian markets. It is useful to look back and realise what has called the
tune, which has influenced our production systems, in the past.
The point I wish to demonstrate is that for a long time our exports were to markets
which in one way or another were controlled or restricted by trade agreements or
import quotas. Clearly, they were structures, which distorted or completely
disregarded the consumer’s requirements in those countries.
Since post war and up to the 1970’s we had a dependence on the United Kingdom, and
strangely the United Kingdom market has never had a preference for marbling nor was
it prepared to pay a premium for High Quality table beef. G.A.Q. was a common
terminology used in the post war era. G.A.Q. simply meant ‘good average quality’ – a
fairly vague type of classification. Following the completion of this supply agreement to
Britain, we saw a dramatic demand emerge in the United States Market. Again, this
was not for marbled beef because the trade agreement was for a lean manufacturing
product. With ground beef, it is easy to add otherwise surplus fat to create the flavour
required in hamburgers. Nevertheless, note well that fat is certainly added not just to
use up a surplus product but also to create the flavour in the beef burger, which comes
with good quality beef fat.
In the late sixties and early seventies, we saw a reopening of the beef trade to Japan.
This was a limited outlet, heavily restricted by quota, so beef of any type would sell
well to a market that had done it tough after the war, and wanted the nutrition from
beef. Many of our exporters, and in particular the importers in Japan who held quota,
disregarded what the consumer’s demands were, and imported the cheapest beef
possible in order to improve their margin.
This import structure gave out the wrong messages to our breeders and growers as to
what their consumers really wanted in the future. Sadly, the same wrong message has
also been duplicated in earlier trade with Korea, to the point that today; Australia is
perceived as supplier of poor quality and cheap beef.
All the time during the import-restriction years in Japan, there was a latent demand for
better quality beef. Beef, which had bright meat colour, white fat and in particular was
marbled and could be supplied as fresh chilled vacuum packed product. Here in Japan,
was a race of people who had greater expectations about eating enjoyment, more so
than most western cultures. Their cuisine had been evolved to make excellent use of
more of the beef carcass than western eating styles do and they knew how to best
prepare it through a variety of cooking methods. Most of all, the Japanese appreciated
marbling and would pay exorbitant prices for meat which was graded on its marbling.
The demand for marbling in their table meat is not just restricted to beef but certainly
is evident in fish such as tuna, also whale meat and in some districts, highly finished
horsemeat is incredibly marbled.
As the world markets have moved towards free trade and countries have been forced
in to liberalizing their market away from import controls, real market forces have come
in to play. Instead of importers, the consumers now have the purchasing power and
have used it to specify and buy the quality most appreciated.
Figure 3. (left) Percentage of chilled and frozen Australian beef exports to Japan
(1988-1999).
Figure 4. (right) Percentage of Grain-fed and Grass-fed Australian beef exported to
Japan (1988-1999).
Since the liberalisation of Japan’s imported beef market in 1991, we have quickly
learnt to concentrate on the subtle flavours and differences required in this very
demanding and discerning market place. We have seen a huge swing towards grain fed
beef of different feeding times to suit the demand of the customer. That demand has
been largely driven by degrees of marbling.
This of course has demanded the inclusion of various degrees of marbling. I must say
here that in 1990 I predicted to the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation that this
would be the way the market would move, while some thought the expansion would be
in cheaper grass fed beef. Lets not get caught again, because mark my words, as the
Korean economy improves and we go forward from its liberalisation, this market too
will want grain fed marbled beef. Perhaps not quite to the same degree as Japan but
marbling will be called for. We are already seeing a rapid decline in production of their
domestic Hanwoo cattle. A breed with some similarity to Wagyu and fed to high
marbling levels. We should realise that globalisation and the move to freer trading are
now progressing and will be here to stay. As a result of this access of our product will
improve. With improved access will come our improved ability to compete with the
higher quality domestic product of other markets such as United States of America
where the importance of marbling is well known and expected in table meats.
So marbling is now terribly important in our current and future export markets. To
bring this more into focus let me enlarge on this statement in a truly Sumner Miller
way “Why is it so?”
To the enlightened consumer, a display of marbling associated with those other visual
characteristics of meat colour and fat colour, indicates to the potential purchaser a
visual judgement on the expected level of eating quality (Figs. 5, 6, 7 & 8). What we
must also realise is the importance of presentation and eye appeal at every point of
display to the consumer, in the sophisticated market places for high quality beef,
Japan, South Korea, United States of America and Australia. But this is best illustrated
in Japan.
Figure 5. (left) Japanese butcher shop showing Australian beef.
Figure 6. (right)Wagyu striploin presented in a Japanese butcher shop.
Figure 7. (left) Stockyard product in a Japanese butcher shop.
Figure 8. (right) Wagyu Shabu Shabu on display in a Japanese butcher shop.
The presence of marbling greatly enhances the ability of beef to convert from the raw
state to the cooked meal without the product becoming dry and tasteless, like a piece
of chicken. In fact, it is the subtle taste that marbled beef delivers to the meal, almost
irrespective of the cooking method used, which influences the enlightened consumer in
their selection at the meat shelf.
It’s horses for courses however. The Australian consumer, who was brain washed,
through poor promotion, in the 1980’s into eating lean beef, is still turned off by beef
that has a marbling score 2 and up. This is well proven in most butcher shop and
supermarket displays. Take the same consumers and offer them this marbled beef in a
cooked product trial against lean cooked beef and they will pick the marble product
each time as being superior in eating quality. There are more than 40,000 individual
Meat Standards Australia consumer trails conducted to support the importance of
marbling in enhancing eating quality. In recent times, in our major cities we have seen
a great development of the concept of ‘steakhouse’ type restaurants. Most of them are
using more mature grain-fed beef where a greater demand for marbled beef is being
established in our domestic market as well.
I trust some of the aspects associated with our market’s desires for marbled beef have
confirmed the importance of marbling to you, in particular in our premium export
markets as well as the growing steakhouse restaurants market domestically. What I
think is so necessary is to create a real awareness with producers about its real
importance and this is not very easy. Certainly there is nothing like excellent feedback
and I am sure this information return is improving, or is it? Why is it we are constantly
hearing from producers about our own company systems, where we do to a great deal
of trouble about trace-back and trace-forward? We get comments like, “We don’t get
this degree of detailed information at other plants”. Now if that is true, why are we not
being rushed by breeders and feeders wanting to learn more about their particular
genetics and feeding systems relative to their ability to marble and meet market
specifications?
I can think of a few reasons that could be at the bottom of the problem as to why
more is not being done or achieved by the better analysis of carcass data. Data, which
is all so necessary to compile and analyse for us to build our knowledge and move
forward with our abilities to produce a reliable marbled product.
Is it because the feedback, presented as a list of numbers (Fig. 9), does not have the
impact of actually seeing the quartered carcass where one can appreciate more fully
the degree of marbling (Fig. 10).
Figure 9. Tabular presentation of carcass information.
Figure 10. Desired presentation of carcass information.
Not just whether it is a 2 or 3, but to be able to see if it is nearer 3 than 2. It is
important too, to determine how fine is the texture and composition of the marbling
and most importantly does it come with large amounts of pocket fat deposits between
the muscles (Fig. 11).
Figure 11. Heavy fat deposits in an Australian Wagyu/Angus F1 carcass.
All these aspects are extremely important to the breeder and the feeder who together
can best influence the outcome positively. The further up market we move our product
the more challenging the degree of marbling and associated carcass traits become.
Should we be over hauling our out dated chiller assessment system? This system is
severely flawed due to the basic concept used to set a common standard between
individual company graders. This is due to the degree of variation, or tolerance, set up
or down the scale allowable within the controlling body known as the “common eye
group”. This variation then becomes wider when individual area managers apply their
own standard between company graders under their control. For a producer who
processes at different processing plants, the result can be very confusing. This can be
further confused by the different chilling regimes, which are used at different plants.
Correct chilling of the carcass is so critical to many important outcomes associated
with the ultimate eating quality. In particular, the actual detection of the marbling
present is also so critical to muscle temperature and time after quartering to correctly
determine the marbling score, consistently.
So I guess I am ending up where I started, that is, the whole question of marbling is a
complex and challenging subject. It is most certainly a challenge we must address to
the fullest and follow down every pathway, which offers hope for solution and ultimate
delivery of consistent and reliably produced marbled product. Our high quality markets
expect and demand it. Just to recap on what these markets are.
First and foremost, Japan where the degree of marbling is preferred at all levels, but to
a lessor degree in their every day product such as short-fed and middle-fed. Our longfed product and Wagyu cross genetics are filling the demand created by the constantly
declining domestic herd in Japan. Japan’s domestic herd has declined by 2 percent
each year since 1996. We are seeing more and more outlets moving to supplement
their sales with imported beef. A higher degree of marbling with finer texture and
distribution are required for these discerning outlets.
Korea, while it is early days and both their economy and their ability to handle chilled
beef needs to improve; there will be a growing demand for long-fed marbled beef. The
decline in domestic Hanwoo production, which normally supplies this demand, is more
dramatic than the decline in Wagyu production in Japan.
United States of America already has a well established demand for marbled beef.
Freer trade, favourable dollar values and increased demand and prices for marbled
beef will see more chilled beef going to that market.
Finally, in our own domestic market, the popularity of steakhouses promoting branded
beef, which is more mature, marbled, aged and (hopefully soon) better graded, has
terrific potential. This trend will influence and change the consumer’s buying patterns
as more and more people demand beef with the same eating quality in the retail
outlets.
Marbling is important in these markets because it influences some positive eating
quality aspects, which are unique and peculiar to our beef product. These aspects
happen to set beef aside in a class of its own from alternative meat protein. This is
clearly because marbling contributes to that unique juiciness, flavour and texture so
appreciated and demanded by our enlightened consumers.
I really do challenge the Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality
management that this Marbling Symposium will not be "a one off event" as it was
promoted. My guess is we will be debating the pros and cons of marbling for many
years to come.
Back to Contents