The Legendary Beef Pie: A 43-Year Wait to Taste in Japan
Yes, you heard that right, the waiting time is 43 years.
Asahiya, established in 1926, has been selling meat products from Hyogo Prefecture – including Kobe beef – for decades before adding the special beef pie to its offerings.
Customers now have to wait over 40 years to taste Asahiya’s beef pie. (Source: CNN)
However, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that the shop’s beef pie became an internet sensation, resulting in the lengthy waitlist.
In 2022, CNN reporters visited Asahiya to meet Shigeru Nitta, the third-generation owner of the shop. At that time, customers wanting to buy the special beef pie had to wait for only 30 years.
A Profitable Business Idea
This highly coveted beef pie is just one of four types of Kobe beef pies that Asahiya sells.
If you can’t wait for nearly four decades to indulge in the special pie, you can opt for another premium beef pie from Asahiya. And you’ll only have to wait four years for that one.
“We started selling our products through online shopping sites in 1999,” Nitta said – “Even then, we sold the beef pie as a business trial.”
Nitta, a native of Hyogo, grew up visiting local cattle farms and attending meat auctions with his father. He took over the shop from his father in 1994, at the young age of 30.
After experimenting with online sales for a few years, Nitta realized that customers were hesitant to spend a large sum of money on premium meat online. That’s when he made a bold decision.
“We offered the beef pie at a price of only 270 yen ($1.8) per piece. Keep in mind that the meat in each pie cost around 400 yen ($2.7),” Nitta revealed.
The meat in each Asahiya pie is more expensive than the pie itself. (Source: CNN)
According to him, Asahiya made delicious and affordable beef pies to give customers a chance to taste premium meat and become repeat buyers. To keep costs down, Asahiya initially produced and sold only about 200 beef pies per week.
“We sell meat from people we know. Our shop only sells meat produced in Hyogo Prefecture, whether it’s Kobe beef, Kobe pork, or Tajima chicken. This has been the shop’s style even before I became the owner,” Nitta said, adding that his grandfather used to cycle to Sanda, a renowned Wagyu cattle-raising area in Hyogo, to procure quality products.
Thanks to the dedication of its owners, Asahiya has cultivated strong relationships with local meat producers and has no need to source from outside the prefecture.
Famous but Losing Money with Each Sale
Asahiya’s beef pies have an intriguing feature: they are inexpensive yet made with high-quality ingredients. Each pie is freshly made daily and contains no preservatives.
The ingredients include grade A5 Kobe beef from three-year-old cows and potatoes sourced from a local farm. Nitta revealed that he encouraged the farm to use cow manure to grow potatoes. The potato vines are then fed to the cows, creating a closed-loop system.
Eventually, Nitta’s unique idea caught the attention of locals and the media. When news of Asahiya’s pies made headlines in the early 2000s, people rushed to place their orders.
A box of Asahiya’s beef pies ready for delivery. (Source: CNN)
“We stopped selling them in 2016 because the waiting time had reached over 14 years. We considered discontinuing the product, but we kept receiving calls asking us to continue selling them,” Nitta shared.
In 2017, Asahiya continued to accept orders for the special beef pies but had to increase the price to 500-540 yen ($3.40 – $3.65) each. However, with the export of Kobe beef from Japan, the price of the meat doubled, and producing each pie still resulted in a loss for Asahiya.
Nowadays, the shop produces 200 beef pies per day, instead of per week as before. “The special beef pie is very popular, more so than our other products,” Nitta said with a laugh, alluding to the ironic fact that this product is causing him to lose money.
“We’ve been advised to hire more people to make and sell more pies. But I don’t think there’s any shop owner who would want to hire more staff and produce more just to witness themselves losing more money… I feel bad for making customers wait. I really want to make the pies faster and send them out as soon as possible. But if I do that, the shop will go bankrupt,” he said.
Fortunately, Nitta shared that about half of those who try the beef pie end up ordering other Kobe beef products. This indicates that his marketing strategy is paying off.
The Shop Owner’s Goal
Each box of the special beef pie typically contains five pieces and is currently sold for 2,700 yen ($18.20).
The shop regularly sends updates to waiting customers, informing them of the latest estimated shipping costs. About a week before delivery, the shop confirms with the customers one more time. “Some people have changed their email addresses. For these customers, we call them directly and inform them of the delivery date,” Nitta explained.
Those who have the opportunity to receive the beef pie today actually placed their orders about ten years ago. As of January 2024, there were 63,000 people on the waiting list, according to information provided by CNN.
Fulfilling unprofitable orders for over 40 years could pose certain challenges, especially with the rising costs of Kobe beef and labor. But these hurdles don’t deter Nitta.
Shigeru Nitta, the third-generation owner of Asahiya. (Source: CNN)
“When I started selling the pies online, I received a lot of orders from remote islands. Most people had heard of Kobe beef on TV but had never tasted it because they had to go to the city to try it. I realized that many people had never eaten Kobe beef,” Nitta shared. “That’s why I continue to sell the beef pies and take more orders. That’s why I don’t really care about selling them at a loss.”
According to TTXVN, by selling more pies and introducing more people to Kobe beef, Nitta hopes to boost the local meat business.
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