UK Wagyu beef supplier unveils ambitious plans to double production by 2025
7th June 2023
In response to continued market demand, British supplier Warrendale Wagyu has announced ambitious plans to double production in the next two years at its 2023 conference, which was attended by more than 250 farming delegates.
The business has grown considerably since its inception in 2018 and currently processes 130 cattle a week, equivalent to 105,000 burgers and 18,000 steaks. Moreover, the company claims it is delivering between 200 and 500 parcels each week directly to UK homes, with 28% of these customers being 25- to 34-year-olds.
Building on its existing success, the company is now looking to expand its farming network to realise new goals, as outlined at its inaugural two-day conference held in Shropshire on 17th and 18th May.
At the event, Warrendale Wagyu updated delegates on its aspirations to secure more farm partners at every stage of the process, from dairy farmers to calf rearers and finishing farms. A large focus was placed on the robustness and resilience of its collaborative supply chain, which has been the company’s key focus for the first five years in business
Tom Richardson, Warrendale’s managing director, also outlined further ambitions to improve product quality over the coming years, without losing sight of the industry’s net zero targets.
While the company has already reduced its carbon footprint by using dairy cross wagyu and utilising the whole animal, it intends to work with the rest of the supply chain and use extensive data gathered over the last five years to make further improvements.
Mr Richardson commented: “The conference was a great opportunity to further cement the British Wagyu industry and bring people together that all have the same vision for the sector.
“British Wagyu is the fastest growing breed in the UK – up 30 percent in 2022 – and we’re confident that together we can increase this even further over the coming years.
“Ultimately, our goal is to protect the premium quality whilst growing the full supply chain sustainably and this was our opportunity to be completely unified on this with all our partners and customers. It was also great to welcome a number of international delegates”
The conference was held in partnership with the British Wagyu Breeders Association and Wyndford Wagyu. Attendees also heard from industry-leading speakers from Aldi, the Australian Wagyu Association, Genus ABS and Red Tractor.
At the evening dinner, £8,219 was raised for charity and will be split evenly between the charities My Name5 Doddie, raising money for MND, and the Farming Community Network (FCN). Guests were treated to canapes by world-class dining chain Hakkasan Group and Wagyu Tomahawk steaks, accompanied by Warrendale Gin.
The British Wagyu Breeders Association also presented its first-ever ‘British Wagyu Ambassador Award’ posthumously to Mike Tucker who was founding chairman of the BWA. The award was collected by his son, Andrew.
