2024-01-23 23:19:00
(CNN) — If you order a box of frozen Kobe beef croquettes from Asahiya, a family-owned butcher shop in the city of Takasago, in Japan’s western Hyogo prefecture, it will take another 43 years to receive your order.
It is not a typo. Forty three years.
Founded in 1926, Asahiya sold meat products from Hyogo Prefecture, including Kobe beef, for decades before adding beef croquettes in the years following World War II.
But it wasn’t until the early 2000s that these beef and potato croquettes became an internet sensation, leading to the ridiculous wait shoppers now face.
CNN Travel spoke to Shigeru Nitta, the third generation of Asahiya owners, in 2022. At the time, the wait for kibble was just 30 years.
An unprofitable business idea
The coveted “Extreme Croquettes” are one of four types of Kobe beef croquettes available at Asahiya. Can’t you wait almost four decades? The store’s Premier Kobe Beef Croquettes currently have a less daunting four-year wait list.
“We started selling our products over the Internet in 1999,” explains Nitta. “At that time, we were offering Extreme Croquettes on a trial basis.”
Raised in Hyogo, Nitta has been visiting local ranches and beef auctions with his father since he was young.
He took over the store from his father in 1994, when he was 30 years old.
After experimenting with e-commerce for a few years, he realized that customers were hesitant to pay a hefty sum for premium beef online.
Credit: Asahiya
That’s when he made a bold decision.
“We sold Extreme Croquettes at the price of 270 yen (US$1.80) per piece… Just the beef in them costs regarding 400 yen (US$2.70) per piece,” Nitta explains.
“We made affordable and tasty kibbles that demonstrate our store’s concept as a strategy for customers to enjoy kibbles and then hope they buy our Kobe beef following the first taste.”
To limit financial losses at first, Asahiya only produced 200 croquettes a week in his own kitchen, next to his store.
“We sell meat raised by people we know. Our store only sells meat produced in Hyogo Prefecture, whether it be Kobe beef, Kobe pork, or Tajima chicken. This has been the style of the store since before I to become an owner,” says Nitta.
In fact, Nitta’s grandfather used to go to Sanda, another famous Wagyu beef breeding area in Hyogo, by bicycle with a handcart to collect the products himself.
“Since that time, our store had contacts with local beef producers, so we didn’t have to bring it in from outside the prefecture,” adds Nitta.
Production increases but popularity grows
The low price of Extreme Croquettes belies the quality of its ingredients. They are made fresh every day, without preservatives. Ingredients include three-year-old A5 female Kobe beef and potatoes from a local ranch.
Nitta says he has encouraged the ranch to use cow manure to grow the potatoes. The potato stalks will then serve as food for the cows, creating a cycle.
Over time, its unique concept caught the attention of locals and the media. When a report regarding Asahiya kibbles was published in the early 2000s, its popularity skyrocketed.
“We stopped selling them in 2016 because the waiting time reached more than 14 years. We were planning to stop placing orders, but we received many calls asking us to continue offering them,” explains Nitta.
Asahiya resumed accepting orders for these kibbles in 2017, but raised the price.
“At that time, we raised the price to 500 yen (US$3.40) – 540 yen (US$3.65) with consumption tax. But since the export of Kobe beef began, beef prices of beef have doubled, so the fact that we lose out on kibble production hasn’t changed,” Nitta said.
Streakry Kobe Beef. Credit: Asahiya
Production has also been increased from 200 croquettes per week to 200 per day.
“Extreme Croquettes have actually become much more popular than other products,” says Nitta, laughing at his own money-losing business idea.
“We heard that we should hire more people and make croquettes faster, but I don’t think there are any store owners who hire employees and produce more to lose more money… I feel sorry for making them wait. I want to make croquettes quickly and ship them as soon as possible , but if I do, the store will go bankrupt.”
Fortunately, Nitta says that regarding half of the people who try the croquettes end up ordering their Kobe beef, so it’s a sound marketing strategy.
A man with a mission
Each box of Extreme Croquettes, which includes five pieces, sells for 2,700 yen ($18.20).
The store periodically sends a newsletter to waiting customers to inform them of the latest shipping estimate.
A week before the delivery date, the store reconfirms the shipment with patient customers.
“Of course, some people have changed their email address. We call those people directly and tell them the delivery date. They can change their address themselves through our website or, when we call them, they can let us know” , explains Nitta.
Customers who receive croquettes these days placed their orders regarding 10 years ago. There are currently 63,000 people in “queue” as of January 2024.
Having a list of more than 40 years of unprofitable orders to fulfill can be stressful, especially as the price of Kobe beef and labor continues to rise.
But there is something more important that encourages Nitta to keep going.
The beef croquettes arrive in this sealed packaging. Credit: Asahiya
“When I started selling croquettes online, I received a lot of orders from remote and isolated islands. Most of them had heard regarding Kobe beef on television, but had never tried it because they had to go to the cities if they wanted to try it. I realized I realized there were a lot of people who had never tried Kobe beef.
“So I kept offering kibble on a trial basis and to get more orders for Kobe beef if they liked it. That was the reason I started it in the first place, so I didn’t care too much if there was no profit,” he says. Nitta.
One of the most memorable moments was when they received an order from a cancer patient who was regarding to have surgery while waiting for their Extreme Croquettes.
“I heard that our kibbles were the patient’s motivation to go under the knife. That’s what surprised me the most,” says Nitta.
The patient survived and has made several orders since then.
Nitta received a call from the patient, who told him, “I hope to live a long time without the cancer coming back,” following trying his kibble.
“I still remember it. I was moved by the comment,” Nitta says.
By allowing more people to enjoy Kobe beef, he hopes the popularity of these croquettes will help promote the local industry.
“I’m very grateful. By becoming famous, I think I can help the entire industry, not just my store, by getting people who haven’t been interested in Kobe beef interested. I want as many people as possible to consume Kobe beef.” Kobe beef, not just in my store,” says Nitta.
What to do if you don’t want to wait
Asahiya now has two locations: its original store in Takasago City and a store in Kobe City. Their frozen beef croquettes are only sent to the national market.
Although Asahiya operates primarily as a butcher shop, Nitta says travelers can visit their Kobe store, where they sell two types of grab-and-go snacks called “Tor Road” and “Kitanozaka” croquettes, named following nearby streets.
“Kitanozaka” uses lean meat and costs 360 yen (US$2.40) each. “Tor Road” uses short tenderloin and bacon, and costs 460 yen ($3.10).
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