Costco Wagyu is real Wagyu beef, which is high quality Japanese A5 Wagyu beef that is imported from regions like Kagoshima, Japan and is known for it's intense marbling as well as tenderness and flavor.
Costco also sells American Wagyu, which comes from Japanese cattle lineage but raised in the United States.
The prominent A5 label on the Costco Wagyu signifies the highest Japanese grading for color, marbling and texture.
The kind of cow that has Wagyu meat is the Japanese cow.
The word Wagyu means Japanese Cow.
The most common Japanese cow or Wagyu is the Japanese black cow, the Japanese brown cow, the Japanese shorthorn cow and the Japanese Polled cow breeds, which are known for their intense intramuscular fat or marbling that gives Wagyu a buttery and tender texture
The 4 Wagyu cow breeds include.
Japanese Black (Kuroge Washu) which is the dominant breed, making up about 90% of Wagyu, prized for its exceptional marbling.
Japanese Brown (Akage Washu/Akaushi) which is a leaner, less marbled breed with a mild flavor, raised in southern Japan.
Japanese Shorthorn (Nihon Tankaku Washu) which is a rare breed of cow from northern Japan, making up less than 1% of Wagyu.
Japanese Polled (Mukaku Washu) is another rare breed, found mainly in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Marbling in the Wagyu meat is the defining feature of Wagyu meat, which is where the fat runs through muscle and creates tenderness.
Unique genetics also promote higher fat content and a lower melting point for the fat.
And Japanese cows or Wagyu are also often raised in low stressed environments with specialized diets to enhance the marbling.
Wagyu cattle were introduced to the United States in the 1980s, which lead to American Wagyu which can be purebred or crossbred, (50% to 100% Wagyu genetics.