Chicken rules the roost as pinched Argentines eat less pricey beef

By Horacio Fernando Soria and Juan Carlos Bustamante

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - In Argentina, land of cattle ranches known for its succulent beef steaks and barbecue grills, chicken now rules supreme.

The South American country's 45 million people ate more poultry per capita than beef last year for the first time on record, official data shows, as consumption of pricier red meat slid amid triple-digit inflation and austerity under libertarian President Javier Milei.

The shift, while part of a longer trend, underscores how Argentines are tightening their belts and adapting diets. Milei's spending cuts have stabilized the rocky economy, but in the short term pushed over half the population into poverty.

"The reality is that I eat more chicken because meat is much more expensive. Chicken just goes a lot further," said Araceli Porres, 45, who works three jobs in Buenos Aires to support her family and who puts chicken into sauces and breaded milanesa.

Data from the Rosario grains exchange showed that chicken consumption jumped in 2024 to 49.3 kg per capita, topping beef, which fell to 48.5 kg, still the highest in the world ahead of Uruguay and Brazil. Pork climbed to 17.7 kg per capita.

"Chicken consumption has grown and that's driven by price," said butcher Daniel Lopez on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, explaining that the cheapest price for a kg of minced beef was 5,000-6,000 pesos ($5-$6) versus half that for chicken.

"That's the difference and today people are taking great care of their wallets," Lopez said. "Salaries remain flat, inflation is still being felt, so people always ask about offers and we end up offering them chicken, which is the best budget option."

Argentines have an almost religious fervor about beef, usually the centerpiece of traditional asado barbecues with family in the garden, in street-corner parrilla chophouses, or even makeshift grills on construction sites or roadsides.

Argentina is South America's second-biggest beef and chicken producer after Brazil, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beef is such an important staple that prices and affordability can become politically sensitive, which could put pressure on Milei as he looks to deepen his reforms this year. Growth is showing signs of returning and inflation has dropped sharply, gaining him plaudits and breathing space with voters.

Miguel Schiariti, head of Argentina's CICCRA meat industry chamber, said raising cattle was more costly than pork or chicken per kg of meat, which meant the sticker price of beef had to rise.

"Today for the average price of a kilo of beef you can buy three kilos of chicken, or almost two kilos of pork," he said. He added that as the economy picked up this year, prices could keep rising, though farmers may also start to produce more.

($1 = 1,047 Argentine pesos)

(Reporting by Horacio Soria and Juan Bustamante; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Rod Nickel)