Why Choose Ways of Wagyu? The UK's Chef-Led Online Butcher
Search "online butcher UK" and you'll get hundreds of results. Most sell the same thing: supermarket-grade beef with a nicer photograph and a 40% markup for the privilege of a cardboard box.
Wagyu makes that worse, not better. It's the most misrepresented beef in the country. "Wagyu burgers" made from cattle with a single Wagyu grandparent. "Kobe-style" steaks that have never been near Hyōgo. Marbling scores quoted with no grading body behind them. If you're spending real money on beef, you deserve to know exactly what's arriving.
Here's what we do differently, and how to judge us against anyone else selling Wagyu online in the UK.
We tell you the grade, the origin and the programme
Every cut on our site names three things: where the beef came from, how it was graded, and which programme it came from.
Our Japanese Wagyu is A5 — the top grade under the Japanese Meat Grading Association system, which scores marbling, colour, firmness and fat quality. Not "A5 style". Not "Japanese-inspired". A5.
Our Australian Wagyu comes largely from the Stone Axe programme, graded BMS 9+ on the Australian marble score. Our Irish Wagyu is BMS 7+, reared in Ireland, and offers a different flavour profile entirely — more beefy, less rich, and easier to cook a large cut of.
If you're not sure what those numbers mean, we wrote the explainer: our guide to Beef Marbling Score breaks down how the Japanese, Australian and Irish systems compare, so you can judge any Wagyu seller — including us — on the same terms.
How to test any online butcher: ask them what grading system their Wagyu uses and who certified it. If the answer is vague, the beef is probably crossbred.
Premium cuts without the premium markup
Our whole position is in the phrase we put on the site: high-end cuts, low-key value.
We're a small operation. We don't carry the overheads of a retail shop, a warehouse team or a marketing department, and we don't build those costs into the price of a steak. We source directly and we price honestly.
That also means we sell things most premium butchers won't touch, because they're not glamorous enough:
A5 Wagyu trimmings — the offcuts from A5 Japanese Wagyu, at a fraction of the steak price. Extraordinary in a burger, a ragù, or rendered down.
Stone Axe BMS 9+ trimmings — the same idea with Australian Wagyu.
WOW beef tallow — rendered from our own fat, for roast potatoes that ruin you for any other kind.
Selling trimmings is a small thing, but it tells you something. A butcher who uses the whole animal is a butcher who bought the whole animal.
A properly halal Wagyu range — clearly labelled
Halal Wagyu is genuinely hard to find in the UK. Most Japanese A5 is not halal, because Japanese processing largely doesn't accommodate Islamic slaughter requirements. A lot of sellers handle this by simply not mentioning it.
We do the opposite. Our halal range is grouped in one place, and every product page states its status clearly. Our Japanese A5 is not halal, and we say so plainly rather than hoping nobody asks. Mixed boxes flag it too.
If halal matters to you, you shouldn't have to email a butcher to find out. It should be on the page.
Delivered in two days, vacuum-sealed, anywhere in the UK
Every order is cut to order, vacuum-sealed and shipped frozen in insulated packaging, arriving anywhere in mainland UK within two days.
Frozen is the right answer for beef this well marbled, not a compromise. Wagyu fat has a low melting point and starts to soften at room temperature, which is exactly why chilled transport degrades it. Vacuum-sealing and freezing preserves the fat structure until you're ready to cook. Our cooking guide covers how to defrost it properly, which matters more than most people think.
Chef-led, not marketing-led
The range is chosen by someone who cooks. That's why you'll find a bavette and a chuck eye ribeye alongside the fillets, and why we stock Irish Wagyu sukiyaki slices for hot pot.
The obvious cuts sell themselves. The interesting ones need someone who's cooked them to put them on the site.
Not just Wagyu
Wagyu isn't the right answer to every dinner. Sometimes you want a big, beefy steak rather than a rich one.
So we also carry New Zealand Ocean Beef, Argentine Rioplatense ribeye, USDA Prime and Aberdeen Angus. A good online butcher should be able to tell you when Wagyu isn't what you want.
Where to start
If you've never ordered Wagyu online before, don't start with the most expensive thing on the site.
The Wagyu Bundle Box — an A5 Japanese cut, an Australian Wagyu cut, trimmings and tallow. The best way to taste the difference between origins side by side. (Note: not all items in this box are halal.)
The Mystery Box — a rotating butcher's selection.
Browse the full range if you already know what you're after.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ways of Wagyu a real butcher or a reseller? We're a UK-registered online butcher (Ways of Wagyu LTD, company number 17211880), based in North London. We're online-only — there's no shop counter and no collection.
Is your Wagyu halal? Part of the range is. Our halal products are grouped on the halal page and labelled on each product page. Japanese A5 Wagyu is not halal.
Do you deliver across the UK? Yes — vacuum-sealed and shipped frozen, arriving within two days.
What's the difference between A5 Japanese and BMS 9 Australian Wagyu? A5 Japanese is richer and more intensely marbled; Australian BMS 9+ has more structure and stands up to more robust cooking. Full comparison here.
How should I cook it? Gently, and less than you think. Our cooking guide covers defrosting, seasoning and searing.