The case in summary Finnmark Rein AS hopes to export reindeer meat to Japan, and believes it can be sold for at least the same price as wagyu meat. Meat from the Japanese cattle is considered to be the world’s most expensive meat. Meat researcher Rune Rødbotten believes that reindeer meat would have been sold at a high price in Japan, as it is associated with high fertility and improved potency. Reindeer owner Jan Ivvár Smuk believes that exporting reindeer meat to Asia can be used in the context of tourism, and help to market Norway and the northern regions. Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad believes that exporting specialized products with high value can be an opportunity, but that the large volumes are still food supplies for people in Norway. The reindeer owner believes that higher value creation in the reindeer herding will result in higher value creation for the local community, as the reindeer herders make their purchases locally. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. NOK 3,000 is a kilo of reindeer meat? Jan Ivvár Smuk “chews on” the price before saying: – It would taste very good in every way. All the meat from the animals the reindeer owner from Nesseby in Finnmark sells to the slaughterhouse goes to Norwegians. Now the 36-year-old hopes that the reindeer, which live on what grows in nature, will also end up on Japanese menus. – This will help to raise the value and status of reindeer meat. And in the next round, this will also benefit the whole society, says Smuk to news. Meat researcher Rune Rødbotten believes that reindeer meat would certainly have been sold at a high price in Japan. – In Japan, and large parts of Asia, they have a perception that reindeer is associated with high fertility and provides improved potency, he says to news. Want better pay than the world’s most expensive meat In Tana, Europe’s largest producer of reindeer meat has its head office. Here, general manager Are Figved (52) sits in the office of Finnmark Rein AS. – I hope that it happens in 2025, he replies when news asks when it will be realistic to send reindeer meat to Japan. It took well over four years for the Finnmark company to get approval for the export of reindeer meat to Asia. It is now working on putting the permit into use, and already next year Figved hopes that they will be up and running. – This week alone, I have received two inquiries from agents who wanted an overview of what products we have with a view to Asia, he says. Managing director Are Smuk Figved at Finnmark Rein AS. Photo: Eilif Aslaksen / news The aim is to get paid as well for reindeer meat as what is paid for the world’s most expensive meat. It comes from the Japanese wagyu cattle breed. The meat is produced in the Hyogo region of Japan, and here the city of Kobe is the capital. The most expensive part of the cattle is called Kobe beef, and varies between NOK 2,500 and 5,000 for one kilo. This price level is what Figved is targeting. What would you like to eat? Reindeer steak Wagyu steak None Show result – I think reindeer meat is much better than wagyu. We have an animal that is 100 percent natural, and not full of fat. We should not be any lower in price than wagyu, quite the opposite, he says. Reindeer tenderloin is now sold in Norway for around NOK 800 per kilos in store. Nina Kristiansen – Gives better potency Rune Rødbotten is a meat researcher at the food research institute Nofima. – Reindeer meat would certainly be sold at a high price in Japan. Among other things, ground reindeer antlers are sold for staggering sums, he says to news. Fernando Hartwig Big difference Researcher Rune Rødbotten says there is a big difference between wagyu and reindeer meat. – The main difference is the content of intramuscular fat. Intramuscular fat (IMF) is the fat that lies inside the muscle, between the fibers. When the IMF is lower than approximately 2.5%, it is difficult to see with the naked eye, but can be measured by chemical analysis. Reindeer meat has almost no intramuscular fat, while wagyu can have up to 60-70% IMF, says the researcher. What is the healthiest? Can you say that one is healthier than the other? – Yes, but then the claims will be conditional on some assumptions. For example, how much you eat, and what else you eat. Neither Norwegians nor Japanese eat a lot of wagyu meat. Very few Norwegians do not eat a lot of reindeer meat either. The exception is people from the Sami community. The total production of reindeer meat in Norway results in an average consumption of 500 grams per Norwegian. This is an exclusive product, says researcher Rune Rødbotten at Nofima. – Preoccupied with the Arctic, northern lights and the pure reindeer’s history and where it lives, Figved believes that it arouses the Japanese’s interest in the meat from the north. – The Japanese are concerned with quality. And then Asians are very interested in the Arctic, northern lights, midnight sun and the clean. It is in these surroundings that the reindeer grows. To succeed, this story must be told, and that requires a lot of work, he says. Figved says the interest in the Arctic and Northern Norway is already great. – There are a lot of Asians on the plane from Oslo to Kirkenes or Alta, and they don’t travel north to lie in the sun and get a tan. They want to see and experience the unique, and here the reindeer meat is part of that, he says. Reindeer in the northern lights. Photo: Harald Albrigtsen / news – The maximum price has been reached Part of the reason why the company in Finnmark is looking beyond Norway’s borders is the price level for reindeer meat. – I think the price potential for reindeer, where we are now, has probably been taken out in Norway. I don’t think you can get paid better than what we do today. – Now all arrows are pointing down at meat, and everyone has been told in the negotiations this year that the price of meat must go down. Fortunately, we escaped and were able to keep the price, says Are Figved. At the same time, reindeer meat makes up a minimal share of the total meat consumption in this country. Figures from the meat industry player Animalia show that each person eats an average of 515 grams of red meat per year. week. While figures from the Information Office for Eggs and Meat show that Norwegians on average eat 300 grams of reindeer meat per year. year. In 2023, 68,700 reindeer were slaughtered in Norway. There could be less meat in Norway The Finnmark Rein boss believes it is important to export more than just the most exclusive cut of meat. – The aim must be to sell a much larger part of the animal than just the fillet to Japan. I know that the interest in Asia for more than just fillet is great, says Are Figved. At the same time, he is aware that exports can lead to less reindeer meat being available in Norway. – That is a bit of a challenge for reindeer meat. We are a bit in the valley of the shadows. If we become too small, then we will not be able to be a stable supplier in Norway, and then the domestic market could crash, says Figved. How the balance between the market in Norway and exports is to be solved, he does not have an answer to today. – I won’t know that until we sit there, he says. On average, each Norwegian eats around 300 grams of reindeer meat a year. Photo: Vanja Ulfsnes / news Nevertheless, the company is willing to invest in exports. This could in turn mean a better price for the reindeer owners for the animals. Today, the slaughterhouses pay between NOK 110 and 120 per kilo for the whole animal. Figved says the reindeer owners will be paid better if the company succeeds in exporting more than just the most exclusive pieces of meat. – With small volumes, the winnings will go up in the spinning. What is crucial to being able to give a better price to the reindeer owners is that we are able to sell volume, i.e. more of the whole animal, he explains. – Just as exclusive as Kobe beef, Innovation Norway (IN) works actively to increase reindeer herding’s value creation, and has a close dialogue with the industry. Senior adviser Trond Einar Persen says the goal is to make the industry as profitable as possible. – Then we have to try to find the customer who is willing to pay the most for the meat. Exports must be about us being paid better than we are in the Norwegian market. If not, then there is no point in exporting, he says to news. Trond Einar Persen is a senior adviser at Innovation Norway. Photo: Nils John Porsanger / news The IN advisor believes that reindeer meat is so unique and of such good quality that it can be exported to markets where customers are willing to pay well. Persen says reindeer meat can be compared to, among other things, wagyu in Japan. He says reindeer meat can also be built up into a highly valued brand. – Kobe beef is sold for NOK 4,000 per kilo in Norway. Then we think why shouldn’t the reindeer meat, which is just as exclusive, be in the same price range in the right market, he says. The minister: – Export an addition Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad (Sp) has the political responsibility for the reindeer husbandry industry. Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad visits the Norwegian stand at the food and tourism fair Grüne Woche in Berlin in January this year. Photo: Nils John Porsanger / news He believes that exporting specialized products with high value can be an opportunity. But at the same time, the minister says to news: – I think the large volumes are probably still food supplies for people in Norway. So exporting is exciting, but I think it is a supplement and an addition. But it is possible to get paid very well if the product is exclusive and good, and it is reindeer meat. – Market Norway Reindeer owner Jan Ivvár Smuk in Nesseby believes that exports to Japan and Asia will mean a lot to reindeer husbandry’s economy. The 36-year-old believes that exporting reindeer meat to Asia can also be used in the context of tourism. – Here you can carry out marketing of Norway and the northern areas within tourism and travel. The aim must not only be to sell meat in Japan, but also to sell a story about the people who live in the north and what they do for a living. And that can give Japanese people a reason to come here, he says. Jan Ivvár Smuk believes that the export of reindeer meat will have ripple effects. Photo: Eilif Aslaksen / news Smuk also envisions other ripple effects. – Higher value creation in reindeer husbandry also means higher value creation for the local community. Reindeer herders make their purchases locally, and that will contribute to higher turnover in the communities where reindeer herders are based, he says. Want to know more about wagyu? Wagyu Photo: Fernando Hartwig Wagyu means Japanese cow and includes several different sub-breeds with different characteristics. Black-haired Japanese wagyu is the most common breed in Japan, and 95 percent of all wagyu in Japan is precisely this breed. Sub-breeds are black-haired Japanese wagyu (tajima) from Kobe, Tottori, Shimane and Okayama. These are characterized by soft fur, thin legs, a high nose and close-fitting horns. Only bulls or heifers belonging to the black-haired Japanese wagyu sub-breed, which have lived their entire lives, butchered by certified butchers and undergone meticulous quality assurance, can be called “Kobe meat”. Around 4,000 animals, half a percent of Japan’s total meat production, are genuine Kobe meat. Only in 2012 was real Kobe beef exported for the first time. Exports went to Macau. EU countries were not allowed to import Japanese cattle until 2014, due to mad cow disease. Exports are still small. Kobe’s marketing and distribution body keeps a list of every gram that leaves the island kingdom. There are not many tonnes involved. Wagyu is produced in countless countries based on the animals exported from Japan in the 1960s. These have been crossed with other breeds and therefore have little original wagyu blood left. Outside of Japan, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark and Wales produce wagyu. In Norway, several farmers have started wagyu production.
ttn-69
