Irish feed manufacturer joins elite beef producers
An Irish feed manufacturer has hitched his wagon to the creme-de-la-creme of beef farmers — the Japanese Wagyu and Korean Hanwoo producers, writes
The Olive Feed Corporation processes organic olives after they have been pressed for oil, and markets the resulting product for feeding at up to 2.5kg per day to the world’s most expensive beef cattle.
Wagyu beef comes from specialised Japanese breeds with an unusually high level of fat marbling.
After the cattle are reared along rigorous lines, the high quality beef sells for hundreds of euro per kg in Japan’s finest restaurants.
That’s why more and more farmers in Australia, the US, and the UK, and some in Ireland, have set up Wagyu herds, in a bid to tap into the huge retail value of the beef.
But gourmets swear by the original Japanese product, such as Sanuki Wagyu in Japan, which has been awarded both gold and silver labels by the Japan Meat Grading Association.
Sanuki cattle were the first to be fed with olives, resulting in a healthier fat, less greasy and more palatable than traditional Wagyu.
The Olive Feed Corporation also aims their product at Korea’s producers of Hanwoo Beef, a similar high-fat marbled beef.
The company sources its pressed olives from leading oil producers in Italy, Greece, Morocco and Spain.
The company carries out its high quality processing at its farm in Co Offaly.
Each batch of feed created is tested in certified laboratories before it is packaged and distributed to Wagyu and Hanwoo farmers around the world. Up to 2.5kg per day of the feed can be fed, says Olive Feed Corporation’s chief executive Gavin Dunne.
Olive-fed beef analysis by ALS Life Sciences in Ireland showed much increased content of oleic acid, which has been shown to have a number of health benefits for consumers, and of monounsaturated fats — which explains the fat content of the meat being lighter, as well as being more digestible and easier on the stomach.
