Order now, get Kobe beef croquettes 38 yrs later: Delivery time growing at Japan butcher

Asahiya meat shop manager Shigeru Nitta is seen in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 20, 2023. “I want to continue conveying the appeal of Kobe beef,” he said. (Mainichi/Nobuya Muramoto)

TAKASAGO, Hyogo — Croquettes using top-grade Kobe beef at a butcher shop here are so popular that the delivery time on orders has grown to 38 years.

Asahiya is known as the store with the longest invisible line of customers in Japan for its specialty croquettes, which can be ordered online only. There is no limit to the number of the delicacy in one order, but sales are limited to 200 of the savory snacks per day, so reservations are piling up. Some 63,000 people were on the waiting list as of the end 2023.

The handmade croquette is named “Kiwami” (lit. “the height of” or “ultimate”). It is filled with cubes of meat from 3-year-old female Kobe beef cattle, said to be especially tender and tasty even among the highest grade “A5” beef. The recipe also includes the “Red Andes” potato variety, which has a high sugar content to match the taste of the meat, and onions from Awaji Island, also in Hyogo.

Some 30 grams of Kobe beef is used for each croquette, which is priced at 540 yen apiece for the time being (about $3.70 as of January 2024, but who knows 38 years later?). They are available only in sets of five.

“The price of the meat alone is about 900 yen ($6.20) per croquette. A chef friend of mine said, ‘If they were served at a restaurant, they would be priced at 2,500 yen each,'” said a jovial Shigeru Nitta, the 59-year-old, third-generation manager of the shop founded in 1926.

Nitta began selling meat online at the behest of an acquaintance in 1999, about five years after taking over the business. He said he initially thought, “Meat is something you see with your eyes before buying. It probably won’t sell.” However, orders came in from as far away as the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and a remote island of Kagoshima Prefecture in southwest Japan. He realized, “There are many people who want to try Kobe beef but can’t get it,” and came up with the idea of Kiwami croquettes as an easy way to sample the famed beef.

Kiwami were the result of repeated test products. They were featured multiple times by the media, and reservations stacked up year after year. In 2016, the waiting time reached 14 years, and the shop temporarily stopped accepting orders, with Nitta thinking, “It’s too long to wait.” At the time, the croquette was 300 yen apiece. But the price of Kobe beef continued to skyrocket, and there was a limit to what he could do without regard to profitability.

However, in response to a string of requests from customers who said they would wait for as long as it took and did not mind paying more, the price was raised in 2019, and the shop started accepting reservations again. The waiting time, which had temporarily shortened to 10 years, began to grow again. One cancer patient who had purchased the croquettes before said, “I ordered them again to encourage myself to be there for when they’re delivered,” and Nitta decided to continue as long as he could.

“Now Kobe beef is the most expensive beef in the world, and it’s out of reach for the average person,” he said. “I want many people to taste the best meat.”

The croquettes, which many people are willing to wait 38 years to try, are the product of his endless love for Kobe beef.

Asahiya is currently shipping the Kiwami croquettes ordered in late January 2014. The shop contacts customers by email and phone before shipping to confirm their purchase intent and delivery address. Frozen croquettes are shipped cash-on-delivery. Shipping and cash-on-delivery fees are not included in the price. Orders can be placed through the shop’s website at www.asahiya-beef.com. For inquiries, contact Asahiya by phone at 079-447-0353 (in Japanese).

(Japanese original by Nobuya Muramoto, Himeji Bureau)