Argentina: less meat and more chicken in the diet due to high inflation

Diego Silva feels the impact of inflation in his butcher shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina: Customers adjust their budgets to buy meat, a central product of the Argentine diet, after a price rise that affects consumption.

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Argentina This Wednesday recorded the highest monthly inflation in three decades, 12.4%, with 124.4% in 12 months. Everything went up, but mainly the food category (15.6%).

Ground meat, which is the most sought after, rose, for example, 39.4% in August, according to a report from the State Statistics Institute (Indec). Other thinner cuts also follow this line.

“People who don’t have money come to buy little by little, day after day,” Silva told AFP in front of the establishment located in Mataderos, the historic “meat neighborhood.”

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“He looks at prices a lot, he turns to chicken, pork.”

This is the country of barbecue, where everything is celebrated with friends and family by grilling meat. In fact, Argentina is the main consumer of beef in the world, followed by Uruguay, the United States, Australia and Brazil.

In 2022, consumption rose to 52 kg per capita, and this year “it will fall again to 46, 47”, similar to 2019 and 2020, explains Miguel Schiariti, president of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Meat and Derivatives (CICCRA ). . ).

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“Meat is what yields the most and Argentines are carnivores”, observes Silva.

– “People didn’t buy it” –

He meat price It had been increasing this year at a rate lower than general inflation.

Several factors influenced this. The drought, for example, has forced many producers into oversupply because penned cattle fatten faster.

But there was a devaluation of around 20%, announced on August 14, after the primaries that preceded the general elections on October 22, and inputs – all in dollars – increased.

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The price soared 70% in two weeks and consumption plummeted.

“People couldn’t afford it anymore: it’s not that they put in an extra 1,000 pesos, it’s that (they said) ‘I can’t carry it.'”

The drop forced a correction in the market, but “it’s a little more expensive”, insists Silva.

Soledad Nocito, for example, changed her habits. “I started buying less red meat and more chicken, I started substituting,” says this 36-year-old university professor, who works two jobs to survive.

“I buy more vegetables (which also rose) due to the increase in the price of meat.”

– “This is a little scary” –

René Godoy strolls through Mataderos with the purchase of the week. He spent 20,000 pesos on meat, about US$55.

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“It’s scary, it’s a little scary,” says this restaurant employee. “I buy for the week, every week to survive, because the money (money) is not enough.”

“Today I bought this, tomorrow or maybe the next Monday it could be more expensive.”

CICCRA’s Schiariti estimates that the price will continue to increase this year and next.

With the end of La Niña phenomenon and the return of rainproducers hope to be able to graze more of their animals and control the market.

On the other hand, due to the climate, many animals died and there were fewer pregnant cows and consequently less supply: “we will have between 1.3 and 1.5 million fewer calves”, said Schiariti.

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– In dollars? –

Argentina is one of the main producers of meat in the world, and in the Cañuelas Agricultural Market, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, a large part of the cattle is sold.

“Good cow, what should we wear to carry her? 15, 20, 30, 35, 40? 35!”: Agustín Lalor barely breathes at the auction, he goes en masse, corral after corral selling cattle, which end up for domestic consumption or export.

From an elevated walkway that runs through the cows, calves and bullsbuyers raise their hands to make their offers.

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“O inflation “It affects everyone,” says Lalor. “It’s the costs… If you don’t increase the product you are selling, indirectly or directly, the profitability of your business decreases.”

Last month – partly as a joke, partly for publicity – a Buenos Aires butcher, fed up with inflation and weight fluctuations, published his prices in dollars: “Beef ribs = 5 dollars, Minced meat = 3 dollars”.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.