At 6 a.m. in Buenos Aires’ Mataderos neighborhood, workers unloaded sides of beef for wholesalers as customers lined up outside a butcher shop. Inside, Jorge García and his staff prepared orders before dawn, but they were also preparing for a visible change in what buyers wanted. Alongside red meat cuts, chicken and pork were increasingly present, store owners and distributors said, as Argentina’s beef demand has slid after prices jumped and household budgets were squeezed.
The decline is reflected in consumption data cited by the story: as of April 2026, annual per capita beef consumption fell to 44.5 kilograms (98 pounds), down from 49.5 kilograms (109 pounds) during the same month a year earlier, according to the Agricultural Foundation for Argentina’s Development. The foundation’s figures also put the change in longer context, saying that in 2006, consumption was 63.4 kilograms per person.
García said shoppers were “switching to cheaper proteins,” adding, “They’re eating pork, they’re eating chicken.” Juampi Quintero, a 25-year-old meat distributor, estimated that consumption among his clients has fallen by “more than half,” and he connected the shift to changes in affordability rather than preference. Analysts in the report attributed the decline to soaring beef prices, lower cattle supply, and weakened household purchasing power, and said Argentina’s opening of its beef market to international trade pushed domestic prices closer to global levels.
Much of the household pressure is tied in the story to austerity measures implemented after Milei took office in December 2023, when annual inflation was reported at 211%. Milei promised to eliminate what the report described as “the cancer of inflation” through an adjustment plan that included cuts equivalent to nearly one-third of public spending, symbolized by a chain saw. The government, the report said, reversed the fiscal deficit and achieved a budget surplus, but the social costs of austerity drew criticism, including the elimination of 13 ministries, layoffs of about 30,000 public employees, halting public works, and reduced funding for areas such as education, healthcare and science. It also said subsidies for basic services such as electricity, gas, water and transportation were cut.
Economist Camilo Tiscornia said in the report that the changes affected household income because families now have to pay more for services that were previously subsidized by the state. He said that left families with less disposable income and pushed them to give up more expensive goods like beef, and the report also said household incomes did not rise at the same pace as beef prices.
In the same period, the report cited wage data for registered workers: wages rose an average of 1.8% in February, the latest available data, compared with monthly inflation of 2.9%. Alberto Brajin, a 61-year-old retiree who runs a streetside barbecue stall in Buenos Aires, told the report that he previously had “the freedom to buy what I wanted,” but now must “trade down” to cheaper proteins such as chicken.
Beef prices, meanwhile, rose sharply. The Argentine Beef Promotion Institute said beef prices rose more than 60% over the past year, reaching an average of 18,500 pesos ($13) per kilogram in Buenos Aires in May. The report also described policy changes around trade and exports, saying that in July 2025 Milei’s government reduced export taxes on beef and poultry and removed production quotas to encourage overseas sales, reversing part of restrictions imposed under former President Alberto Fernández to curb domestic prices. It said that easing happened as Argentina’s beef production dropped by more than 10% because of floods and droughts, according to CICCRA, the nonprofit that represents Argentina’s beef producers.
The report added that Argentina’s government said beef exports rose 54% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, totaling nearly 200,000 tons worth more than $1 billion, and said the increase followed a U.S. decision earlier this year to expand Argentina’s tariff-free beef quota amid American cattle shortages. With the market more open, the report said, producers started selling beef at prices closer to international levels, and agricultural consultant Iván Ordóñez explained that previously, meat prices were more similar, which encouraged high beef consumption that did not reflect production costs.
As beef becomes more expensive for many families, the story said chicken and pork are gaining ground as alternatives. Shop owner Ruth Simon said, “We’ve chosen to buy pork and chicken because beef is too expensive.” The report cited average prices of 4,900 pesos ($3.50) per kilogram for chicken and about 8,900 pesos ($6.30) for pork ribs. García said he began selling chicken and pork less than a year ago after noticing changes in customers’ eating habits, telling the report: “You have to adapt,” adding, “We can’t just sit around crying. No crying. We have to work. We have to keep our dignity. We have to fight.”