OSAKA - Top-quality Japanese beef known as " Kobe Beef" was exported to Hong Kong for the first time on Wednesday by a beef marketing organization based in western Japanese city of Kobe.

Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association said that a Cathay Pacific plane carrying about 1,300 kg of the beef took off from Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture on Wednesday evening.

The group said that after inspection the beef will be served in some of the best restaurants in Hong Kong. The meat will be also on sale in a supermarket in the city, being priced at around 40-50 U.S. dollars per 100 grams.

A spokesperson for the association told Xinhua that since consumer demand for high-quality beef increases rapidly in Hong Kong, the organization will try to make best efforts to ship Kobe Beef on a regular basis to Hong Kong, adding that the second batch of the beef will be delivered to the city also in August.

According to the association, "Kobe Beef" refers only to meat from cows of "Tajima-gyu" lineage born and grown in the dedicated farms located in Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. The brand name can only be used for beef that meets the group's criteria.