Linden Foods & Noble Herd win ‘Sustainable Agri-Food Supply Chain Excellence’ award

Linden Foods & Noble Herd recently won the Sustainable Agri-Food Supply Chain Excellence Award at the 2022 NIFDA Awards.

Keith Williamson, Supply Chain Manager, commented on the win: “We are proud to win the Sustainable Agri-Food Supply Chain Excellence award. Working with Noble Herd we’ve been able to continually develop better genetic selection through trial work and data collection to deliver better performing Wagyu cattle for Northern Irish conditions.

“Our approach to data collection and farm carbon foot printing is enabling us to make huge steps forward in developing not only a better quality product for our customers but also create a sustainable platform for our Wagyu Beef Suppliers to grow their enterprises with us moving forward.”

Noble Herd’s Luke Smith, speaking on Wagyu and procuring the supply chain, added: “Market data reflects to some extent that beef consumption per capita in the UK and EU will reduce over time. However, the data also shows demand for a higher quality, locally produced beef product that responds to consumer concerns around areas of quality, welfare, nutritional value and the environment will increase. Utilising data collection, farm carbon foot printing and selecting genetics specific to supply chain needs all helps us develop a more robust supply chain for the customer.”

WHAT IS WAGYU ?

Wagyu are a very unique breed of cattle originating in Japan. The name Wagyu translates as ‘Japanese cow’ and refers to all Japanese cattle breeds of which there are four different strains. ‘Wa’ translates as Japanese with ‘Gyu’ translating as cow. In North East Asia around 35,000 years ago Wagyu started to evolve very differently to any other cattle, resulting in the breed’s unique beef characteristics.

Wagyu has twice the concentration of healthier fats compared to all other conventional breeds, containing extremely high levels of Oleic acid, which helps the body metabolise fat in a healthier way. Wagyu fats increase good cholesterol while decreasing bad cholesterol and it’s actually these fats that produce the beef’s distinctively sweet flavours.

However, the way Wagyu naturally evolved isn’t the only reason why the breed is so unique. From 500 BC to 1867 Japan’s Buddhist leaders banned the consumption of meats. This resulted in Japan’s farmers using their Wagyu cattle as work animals, ploughing fields and carting rice and materials from village to village. So when breeding their Wagyu they selected animals that could work harder for longer. It was these selected animals that could store more energy in the form of fat within their muscles, known today as beef marbling. Unknown at the time, it was this breeding practice over hundreds of years that would produce the world’s highest marbling beef breed.

In general flavour is better carried through marbling in beef, not through the red muscle tissue and so with Wagyu’s abundant marbling the consumer experiences a richer, more flavourful eating experience.

NORTHERN IRELAND WAGYU BEEF SCHEME

Linden Foods working in conjunction with Noble Herd is now offering beef producers participation in their Wagyu Beef Scheme. The Scheme will offer beef producers forward contracts providing security and confidence regarding on farm decision making in relation to their enterprise.

All Northern Ireland applications welcome.

For more information contact: Luke Smith - Noble Herd; Mobile: 07515 874 609. Email: [email protected]