Wagyu beef producer the Australian Agricultural Company has launched its luxury Master Kobe beef brand in Hong Kong targeting the extreme top end of the restaurant, hotel and retail markets.

AACo’s chief executive Don Mackay said the launch of the exclusive beef brand further differented and extended AACo’s beef brands and product range.

“It’s a result of the investment and effort being applied by the company as part of its rapidly growing wholesale beef business,” Mackay said.

Master Kobe is derived from purebred animals meeting strict marbling and meat quality criteria equivalent to the Japanese beef grading system’s A5 standard. Approximately only 20 per cent of all pure bred Wagyu animals produced by the AACo’s supply chain reach the A5 quality grade after 500 days of grain feeding.

AACo general manager Pete Cabassi said Master Kobe was aimed at “VIP beef lovers that wish to indulge in authentic, highly marbled Wagyu beef with the reassurance that it has been selected and prepared with care in Australia by Australia’s number one Wagyu producer”.