Beef shortage slows fast food
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A beef shortage has forced fast-food restaurants in Japan to take favored dish beef bowl off the menu.
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Beef bowl has been one Japanese answer to American fast-food, with hundreds of restaurants springing up across the country to meet huge consumer demands for a quick meal.
But now the dish is coming off the menu because of a national beef shortage.
The shortage has been created by Japan's decision to ban imports of U.S. beef following an outbreak of madcow disease in Washington state late December.
Japan wants individual inspections of any U.S. cattle earmarked for beef exports, or an equivalent inspection regime.
More than 2 million Japanese poured into restaurants of fast-food market leader Yoshinoya this week to get their last taste of "beef bowl" before supplies dried up.
Customers even queued in the street for the meal, which is known in Japan as "gyudon".
It has been a similar story in Taiwan, which has also banned U.S. beef imports.
Yoshinoya says that it cannot continue the dish in its 50 Taiwanese restaurants because of a supply shortage.
Yoshinoya, which runs more than 1000 restaurants in Japan, received 99 percent of its beef supply from the U.S.
The ban has already forced it to stop operating 174 restaurants at night. The company suspended the operations of another 123 outlets during the quiet new-year holiday. Marketing campaigns and promotions have been cancelled.
The demise of the beef bowl has given Yoshinoya the opportunity to change its menu to continue to provide an alternative to American companies such as McDonald's and Burger King.
Yoshinoya says it will now focus on a "salmon-and salmon-egg bowl" alternative, as well as curry and chicken dishes.
Japanese rival Matsuya Foods Co. -- the second-largest beef bowl restaurant chain -- says it will have no beef left after this weekend.
Restaurant executives say the company will seek alternative supplies from Australia and Brazil. However, they doubt the company can put beef bowl back on the menu until the ban on American imports is lifted.
Japan bought more than $1 billion of U.S. beef last year and is the largest overseas customer for U.S. beef.
