WITH prices of up to £1,000 per kilo, customers at this butchers shop may be best advised to keep their credit cards handy.
But the husband and wife team behind the first UK store dedicated to selling the world’s most expensive beef believe upmarket restaurants and wealthy private clients will bring them a taste of success. Mohsin Altajir and Martine Chapman vowed to make Scotland the “Wagyu centre of Europe” after importing a herd of the famed Japanese cattle.
The couple, whose family owns Highland Spring mineral water, set up Highland Wagyu and began breeding Japanese Wagyu and Scottish breeds at Blackford Farms near Dunblane in 2011. Now they have set up a high street shop to capitalise on the meat’s continuing prestige.
Wagyu House in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, already has a client book running to hundreds of names and has sold one tonne of meat since opening in June.
However, Altajir, who operates a “nose to tail” philosophy, says the produce is for everyone, with prices beginning at £10.
He said: “When we set up Highland Wagyu five years ago we knew chefs would be interested, but we didn’t anticipate such an overwhelming demand from the private market.
“We want to bring Wagyu to the masses. There is Wagyu to suit every taste bud and every pocket.”
The couple say the “rich, fertile Perthshire grassland” used for grazing and “huge zen-like buildings” used to house the animals keeps them “happy and content”.
Chapman said: “We respect each animal from nose to tail right through their life cycle. We pamper our Wagyu cattle and that ethos continues with our luxury Wagyu beef.”
French chef Albert Roux, who oversees the Chez Roux at Andy Murray’s Cromlix House hotel, joined London-based restaurateur Pierre Koffman at the launch yesterday.
Scottish chef Tom Kitchin, who has used the beef at his Leith eaterie The Kitchin “since the beginning”, also attended.
The Henderson Street shop sells gourmet burgers, handmade charcuterie, pies and prime cuts of sirloin, fillet and rib and all grades of Wagyu beef, from high-ranked Japanese Kobe to lower grade Australian beef. The three chefs are mentors to the project, and the meat will soon be rolled out to all Roux restaurants in Scotland.
Takeaway meals will also be available from the shop, while customers will be able to choose the number of days to dry age their beef on the premises.
Chapman said: “We wanted to keep everything local. Bridge of Allan is literally on our doorstep so we can oversee every aspect to ensure quality every step of the way, and the main suppliers of beef are bred and processed within a five-mile radius.”
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