Employees of Yoshinoya D&C Co., serve the rice dish topped with American beef for media, after Yoshinoya President Shuji Abe announced the "beef bowl" returns Wednesday. After a two-year hiatus caused by a mad-cow scare, the fast-food chain will have just a million servings on the return day, which are likely to sell out before the day is over.
Yoshinoya, the Japanese fast-food chain that made its fame on a rice dish topped with American beef, said Wednesday the "beef bowl" will return Sept. 18 after a two-year hiatus caused by a mad-cow scare. But Yoshinoya D&C Co. will have just 1 million servings, which are likely to sell out before the day is over, the company's president, Shuji Abe, said. The chain, which operates about 1,000 restaurants nationwide, won't be able to regularly offer its famous "gyudon," as it can't procure a sufficient supply of American beef because of Tokyo's decision to only allow cattle aged 20 months or younger in lifting its ban on U.S. beef. Yoshinoya said it will offer 1 million servings a day for the first five days in October, and similarly for Nov. 1-5. Although some kinds of Australian beef can produce the flavor and texture needed for the Yoshinoya beef bowl, American beef is best and had been available in the past in enough quantity because of the large-scale U.S. ranches, said Yoshinoya spokesman Yasunori Yoshimura. "We are in a bit of a bind," he said. "But serving the American beef bowl even on a limited basis will be a definite plus for our business." Another reason for gyudon's popularity was its affordable 280 yen price. The beef bowl arriving later this month will sell for 380 yen. The supply of American beef is so tight, Yoshinoya will be also using Mexican and Australian beef, Abe said. Japanese beef is much more expensive than American beef. Top-grade Japanese cows are fed beer and pampered with massages to produce fat-laden meat savored as a delicacy for traditional dishes like sukiyaki -- beef and vegetables in a broth. Abe has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Japan's beef ban, saying that American beef is safe. But he denied he had any complaints against the authorities and was just happy bringing back the beef bowl. "I'm filled with joy now about being able to make it and offer it," he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. Japan imposed a ban on American beef in December 2003 due to mad cow concerns. Before that, Japan was a top destination for U.S. beef, importing US$1.4 billion worth a year. Left without its prized dish, Yoshinoya saw its earnings battered by the beef ban, sinking into the red in fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2005. It is forecasting a return to profit for the current fiscal year. Yoshinoya has been struggling to woo back diners with pork bowls and more expensive grilled beef dishes using Australian beef. The chain last served beef bowls Feb. 11, 2004, after its stock of U.S. beef ran out. It even scraped together all the American beef still found in Japan to serve beef bowls for one day a year later on Feb. 11, 2005. Japan's ban on American beef was finally eased in July. It had been imposed again in January after getting briefly lifted in December 2005, after spinal bones prohibited in Japan while permitted in the U.S. were found in a veal shipment. But public opinion surveys show many Japanese choose to shun American beef and remain worried about mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. Shuji Abe , president of Yoshinoya D&C Co., displays a signboard prepared for the "beef bowl returns" day during a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara) The reception to the once extremely popular Yoshinoya beef bowl is a test for how deeply entrenched such fears remain among the Japanese public. Two years ago, some 2 million beef bowl fans rushed to Yoshinoya restaurants to get their last gyudon mouthfuls when the company announced its American beef supply was running out because of the ban. Abe acknowledged it will take time before public fears about American beef subside. "All we can do is do our best to send our message on the scientific facts about food safety," he said. Last month, Zenshoku Co., a barbecue-beef restaurant, became the first eatery chain in Japan to serve American beef since the easing of the ban in July, by offering American beef at 57 of its outlets. As a larger chain requiring more stockpile of beef, Yoshinoya has taken longer to start serving beef bowls. (AP)
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