Australian Wagyu: Opportunities abound overseas in 2022

There’s plenty of opportunity for Australian Wagyu products as the world bounces back from the pandemic.

There’s plenty of opportunity for Australian Wagyu as the world recovers from Covid-19, both domestically and offshore. Picture: Norm Oorloff

A global economy in recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic presents a prime opportunity for Australia’s premium Wagyu industry, both domestically and internationally.

But 2022 will continue to be a trying time for fine dining across the world, as the world moves from a ‘pandemic’ to an ‘endemic’ scenario, according to one industry expert.

Presenting at the Australian Wagyu Association conference in Melbourne this week, Meat and Livestock Australia strategy manager Scott Cameron said consumer confidence was “really growing” off the back of a global recovery from the pandemic.

“2021 post-lockdown was a boom time for fine dining … patrons spent twice as much as they did when they went out verses pre-pandemic,” Mr Cameron said.

Mr Cameron said despite optimism for a global economic recovery, it would not be without headwinds.

More Australians travelling domestically as a result of international border closures will provide both challenges and opportunities for the Australian dining scene, with staff shortages and supply chain issues playing off against diners rediscovering the joys of eating out, as venues create “authentic experiences that cannot be recreated at home … making sure that people’s experiences when they go out are absolutely top quality”.

“So that is … a big opportunity for us to play front and centre, and capitalise on that trend,” Mr Cameron said.

Wagyu beef. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Data presented by Mr Cameron showed internationally beef sales in key markets such as the US, the UK and China were forecast to rise in the next 12 months, up as much as 31 per cent in the US by 2023.

“There’s a lot of buoyancy in terms of export markets.”

MLA data shows the US has experienced almost 30 per cent growth in Australian grain feed beef exports by volume since 2017.

“The US is certainly a market we see as having opportunity,” Mr Cameron said.

This is compared to the top three Australian red meat export markets of Japan, Korea, and China, which saw a 1 per cent decline, a 5 per cent rise, and a 22 per cent rise respectively in grain fed exports during the same period.

North America in particular, Mr Cameron said, would be a ripe opportunity for Australian red meat and premium products such as Wagyu.

“We’re also looking at markets with higher disposable income, and the US has the highest number of millionaires in the world,” Mr Cameron said.