Narrator: This is one of the rarest steaks in the world.
Known as olive wagyu,
it costs over $500 a pound,
which is almost 60% more expensive
than other high-grade cuts of wagyu.
Produced by feeding wagyu cows
a special feed made from olives,
it's one of the most expensive meats you can buy.
Narrator: The technique of feeding olives to wagyu cows
was actually only developed in recent decades.
And the steak wasn't always this pricey.
Narrator: So, what makes olive wagyu
different from other wagyu?
And why is it so expensive?
The sun is rising over Shodoshima in Japan's Inland Sea.
Masaki Ishii has been raising cattle here
for half a century.
Narrator: Shodoshima, literally "small-bean island,"
was once famed for its adzuki beans.
But after olive trees were introduced from Greece
just over a century ago,
it became more famous
as the home of Japan's oldest olive groves.
Narrator: Wagyu beef is already known
for its intense marbling and high levels of oleic acid,
both of which make the meat extra tender and flavorful.
Masaki set out to create a wagyu even richer in oleic acid.
Narrator: But instead of using fresh olives,
Masaki turned to olive pomace,
the residue from olive-oil production.
Doing so allowed him to recycle a waste product
from one of Shodoshima's major industries.
Narrator: Olive pomace still contains a lot of oil.
Drying it is a difficult and costly process,
one that took Masaki almost six years to perfect.
Narrator: Around two months before the cattle
are shipped out, Masaki starts mixing
the dried pomace into their feed every day.
Narrator: Every morning, Masaki comes in
to check on his cows while they're still asleep.
Narrator: While other varieties of wagyu
are typically sold to be processed at 24 to 26 months,
olive wagyu doesn't ship out until 30 months.
The longer raising time and high cost of the feed
make olive wagyu difficult to come by.
But despite the limited supply,
it has become especially popular with chefs.
Narrator: When Masaki first started
experimenting with olives,
he kept it a secret from his buyers.
Narrator: But in 2010,
an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Miyazaki Prefecture
devastated Japan's livestock industry.
Despite successful efforts to contain the disease locally,
the damage was done.
Countries like the United States
suspended beef imports from Japan.
Disaster struck again with the Tohoku earthquake
and tsunami of 2011.
As Japan struggled to recover and rebuild its economy,
Masaki looked towards strengthening
his prefecture's beef production.
He led the charge towards working
with more local olive farmers.
In 2012, other farmers on Shodoshima
started following Masaki's methods
to raise olive-fed cattle.
Just one year later, olive wagyu began shipping
to places outside of Shodoshima and Kagawa Prefecture.
Today, there are about 2,500
olive-fed cattle on Shodoshima.
Still, this is nothing compared to places
like Kagoshima or Miyazaki,
where high-quality-wagyu production
has been taking place for decades.
On Masaki's farm, there are just 20 head of cattle.
Narrator: To reach this goal,
the cattle farmers of Shodoshima need help
from the local olive producers.