The menu at Moo Moo

By Dwain Duxson.

It was a Sunday, and my wife Paula and I felt like a good steak for lunch. We were on the Gold Coast at the time and knew of a good Steak Restaurant called Moo Moo. We had eaten there once before, many moons ago. So off we went.

Some of you may have been there before. It's a pretty neat place in a good location at Broadbeach. And as far as Steaks were concerned, these were our choices.

Being a bit of a tight ass, I ordered one of the cheaper selections, and I think Paula went for something other than a steak. It was pretty damn good, washed down with a few Pale Ales. I walked away pretty happy.

This got me thinking about two questions in particular. 1) Are we commoditising Wagyu? 2) Why hasn't Sheepmeat found its Wagyu yet?

Let's attempt to answer no 1 first.

I did a bit of research on this, and anyone worth their salt in the restaurant game will have a Wagyu Steak on the menu. And as you can see on the menu above, the entry-level isn't $150 anymore. They are still expensive but a little bit more back-to-the-field.

I had a $43 one the other day in a start-up venue in Bendigo (Vic), and it was alright, but not out of this world.

So we are starting to see, what was once an exclusive, and perhaps a once-a-year choice, is now pretty common. And add to that, you are getting different selections, which would say to me that there are different levels of eating experience.

So now we have every man, woman and dog breeding Wagyu. I wouldn't know what the numbers are but there are plenty out there with some smart, well-known Cattleman are getting into them. Many are doing crosses, and they are starting to get into the Bos Indicus areas of Queensland, WA and the NT.

So with more numbers, more choices and being more readily available, I would say yes, Wagyu is becoming commoditised. What that means for premiums and the industry going forward will be spelt out in time, but it proves to me that you can commoditise what was a premium product. The $43 steak in Bendigo is a testament to that.

That gets us to question 2.

It could be argued that the Sheep/Lamb industry hasn't been anywhere as innovative as the beef industry with branding. There is no Wagyu in the Sheepmeat Industry. But there lies the opportunity. As Beef de-premiums (not sure if that's a word) a segment (Wagyu), Sheepmeat can up-premium (that too) into the space and steal some market share.

I know respected Sheep Breeder Tom Bull, is doing something in this space with his $100/kg Kinross Station cutlets. He is using the Hamshire Down's breed and looks to be making headway.

I can't think of any other organisation trying that level of branding on the meat side. I know many have tried and failed, and the ones that survived are more niche.

But Wagyu is a sector, and that's what I think the Sheepmeat guys need to create, a premium sector, as opposed to a bunch of brands.

The future for Beef and Sheepmeat is firmly in the premium space. The opportunities will be there as the world becomes wealthier and the East wants to eat more like the West.

Anyway, it's food for thought. Haha

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