How Much Is Wagyu Beef?

It can get expensive quickly, especially if you want to taste the authentic wagyu that everyone is looking for. (2) Yet, retail grocers can be found selling “wagyu” in ground packages for as little as $6, while only a handful of restaurants are certified to serve authentic premium-quality wagyu, skyrocketing the price to hundreds of dollars per serving easily.

 

the "Juuni Ban" hot dog contains a lot of high-class ingredients. Guinness World Records has the complete list of ingredients, and it's incredible: smoked cheese bratwurst, butter teriyaki grilled onions, maitake mushrooms, wagyu beef, foie gras, shaved black truffles, caviar, and Japanese mayonnaise, all served up in a brioche bun. … Officially certified by Guinness World Records as the world's most expensive commercially available hot dog, this delicious dog will cost you a cool $169.

Carly Ledbetter

 

The price is determined by the authenticity of the meat as well as the grade, and only the authentic premium-quality meats will provide you with the same melt-in-your-mouth feel and flavor that is so highly sought after.

So, really, how much is wagyu beef? Depending on the grade and type of wagyu purchased, you will be looking any anywhere from $10 to $30 per ounce of wagyu steak.

 

Why Is Wagyu Beef So Expensive?

Within the United States, restaurants are not required to have a certain percentage of wagyu in their beef to call it as such, and because of this, they often label their beef as wagyu for the interest and revenue it draws.

This leaves a lot of people confused about why some wagyu is so expensive while other restaurants have it available for more.

Real, premium-grade wagyu requires a lot of care and effort to breed, cut, and export which raises the prices significantly, but there is no cleaner or higher-quality beef available than real A5 or Kobe beef.

However, only a handful of restaurants in the US are certified by the Kobe Beef Association to serve Kobe and wagyu beef. These restaurants are serving pure-bred beef and will command a higher price because of the limited supply and restrictions around serving it.

You might think that any other restaurant that is advertising “low-price” wagyu beef getting it secretly – but there is too little supply of wagyu, and it is tracked too closely for that. Instead, they are either selling ground wagyu with Angus or mis-labeling their beef as wagyu on the menu to drive more sales.