This Japan shop's US$2 beef croquettes are so popular, there's a 38-year waiting list
Anyone ordering the Kobe beef croquettes from Shigeru Nitta's butcher shop in the central Japan prefecture of Hyogo will need patience. A lot of patience.
An order sent to Asahiya today will be delivered in about 38 years.
Nitta's deep-fried beef and potato dumplings have attracted a fanatical following across Japan for the cubes of grade A5 Kobe beef - the highest quality ranking of the rarefied delicacy - from three-year-old cows that have been raised locally.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
He then combines the beef with "Red Andes" potatoes grown on a farm that only supplies his shop and are prized for their high sugar content. The final primary ingredient is onions from Awaji Island, in the inland sea off Hyogo Prefecture.
Each croquette is around 10cm across, weighs 100 grams and are known as "kiwami", which translates as "the ultimate". Croquettes can be ordered in boxes of 10 that are delivered frozen, with a single golden croquette containing around 30 grams of prime Kobe beef and selling for 300 yen (US$2.05) - which Nitta says is a steal.
"I estimate we are losing 300 yen on every croquette that we sell because the beef that goes into them is so expensive," he told This Week in Asia. "But we started selling them because we wanted people to have a taste of high-quality, diced Kobe beef and to encourage them to buy other cuts of beef from us."
The campaign is working, with Nitta operating two shops and his business expanding.
The popularity of the croquettes has spread thanks to media coverage and word of mouth, he said, with many people also attracted by their "exclusivity". Nitta and his staff only produce 200 croquettes every day, meaning there's a huge backlog. He said as of the end of last year, the order list has around 63,000 names and the latest additions will not be receiving their orders until the year 2062.
Asahiya was founded in 1926 and Nitta is the third generation of his family to operate the company, taking over in 1994. About five years later, a friend suggested the croquettes as a way to promote the shop's other products, although Nitta was initially sceptical.
He quickly realised his mistake and was helped early on by the growth of the internet, with people keen to buy high-grade Kobe beef but often unable to find it, he said. Nitta's croquettes give people a taste of the sought-after delicacy at a reasonable price point.
The story really took off after Asahiya was featured on a television programme, he said, leading to more coverage.
With orders piling up, however, Nitta decided in 2016 that the 14-year waiting list was too long and stopped taking new orders. That only lasted a couple of years, however, with pressure from customers forcing him to resume taking orders for the distant future.
"The secret is in the quality of the beef and other ingredients," Nitta said. "People know it is going to be good and while they know they are going to have to wait to try these croquettes, they think it's worth it."
He does not, however, expect to be calling customers in 38 years to confirm their delivery address and to tell them their order is finally on its way.
"I do not expect to be around then," Nitta laughed. "But the shops will still be here, and I hope that my grandkids will still be making croquettes then."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
