Argentina: beef consumption at its lowest in 50 year - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

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Argentina: beef consumption at its lowest in 50 years

14/09/2011
Consumers in Argentina are eating less beef now than at any time since 1958. Recent figures released by the government suggest that, per capita, Argentineans are eating an average of 52.3 kilos of beef a year. The corresponding figure in 2003 was 61.1 kilos.

Reports suggest high prices for beef in the shops and the recent fall in the country’s livestock population and cattle slaughter are the main reasons. Sales of chicken are on the increase.

CICCRA, the country’s meat industry association, has calculated the figure and has confirmed that it puts beef consumption in Argentina, the world’s biggest per capita beef-consuming market, at its lowest in five decades. Its figures coincide with those of the state-run Institute for the Promotion of Argentinean Beef (IPCVA).

Beef consumption rates have been declining since 2007. At that time, Argentina had a cattle herd of 60 million head. Industry and government sources now estimate the herd size at around 48 million. On consumer prices, economists insist that, across the board, inflation is running at 20% per year at least, leading many families to look for cheaper sources of meat, including chicken. In 2003, per capita consumption of chicken was around 20 kilos a year. In 2011, the figure is estimated at 37 kilos. “Only middle-class people are eating beef two or three times a week now,” one academic said recently.


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