Wagyu beef is considered to be the holy grail of steaks because of its marbling and incredible flavor. There's a small subsection of wagyu that some consider to be the world's rarest steak, with only a few cows slaughtered each year for meat. Called Sanuki Wagyu or "olive wagyu," it's coming to the United States for the first time ever, and the public has a chance to get their hands on it.

Photo courtesy of Crowd Cow

Crowd Cow, an online artisanal beef marketplace, is spearheading the first-ever sale of Sanuki Olive Wagyu, which is prized for its rarity, quality, and health benefits. Raised in the Kagawa province of Japan, these cattle are fed with toasted and dried olive pulp, leftover from olive oil production on the nearby island of Shodoshima. The olive pulp helps bring unprecedented levels of umami flavor to the beef, as well as a healthy portion of oleic acid. This monounsaturated, good-for-you fat is responsible for 65.2% of the fat content in olive wagyu, more than any other beef variety in the world.

That oleic acid content turned the heads of the Japanese wagyu industry last year, when the Olive Wagyu beat out every other entrant in the Wagyu Olympics for fat quality. It also means that Sanuki Wagyuu has more anti-inflammatory properties than a typical Wagyu, thus giving it health benefits over a traditional piece of Wagyu steak.

Only 2,200 heads of these olive-fed cattle roam on Kagawa farms today. Three of those farms have been gracious enough to send portions of their beef out to the United States for the first time ever.

To guarantee a chance to purchase the world's rarest steak, you'll want to register with Crowd Cow's website and make a purchase of any other type of meat prior to April 16th. On that day, at 9 am PDT, anyone who's already bought steak through Crowd Cow will get access to the sale of Sanuki Olive Wagyu. If any is leftover the following day, first-time Crowd Cow users will also get a chance to buy the rare meat when availability opens up to everyone else.