February 5, 2022

07:02

Marcela Leiros – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – “I no longer buy [meat] as before. Today it’s fish, chicken stew and so we go on taking it. Paulo César Barbosa Gaspar’s statement could be another testimony of a Brazilian, living in the Amazon, who needed to adapt his eating habits with the high price of food, especially meat. But the businessman and owner of two barbecue restaurants in Manaus (AM), who makes a living selling ready-to-eat meats, ironically, also needed to reduce, and a lot, the consumption of this food, when the profit and the budget were reduced.

Those who like to eat the all-Brazilian steak with rice and beans, or even enjoy a barbecue at the weekend felt the impact on their pockets, just like Paulo César. And the official numbers explain it. The National Wide Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15), calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), indicated that meat prices went up again for Brazilian consumers between December 2021 and January 2022, with an inflation increase of 0.90% and 1.15%, respectively.

“Many people [stopped consuming meat], I am one, even to eat at home”, Paulo César told CENARIUM, while waiting in line at the butcher shop of a supermarket in the Betânia neighborhood, south zone of Manaus. With a cart full of meats destined to his commercial establishments, the businessman explained that before he used to buy a box of chicken, with about 10 units, for R$ 75 reais. Today this price reaches R$ 218. As for the meat, he also exemplified the case of fat, used for the barbecue skewer and that every customer likes to taste. The kilo used to be R$ 10, today it reaches R$ 25.

Read also: In Bolsonaro Government, Amazonians eat chicken feet and cook with firewood

“Once in a while he buys a meat for stew, a cheaper one. Barbecuing picanha is difficult, we can’t afford it”, he says about the consumption of food in his home.

The businessman explains that today, two years after the beginning of the pandemic, the profit of the points has significantly reduced, directly impacting the family’s own income. Manager of 12 employees, despite earning a significant profit in the points, it is still necessary to pass on the value of the payment to employees, pay the usual expenses of the business and, only then, withdraw the next “salary”.

“I have been working in this business for 12 years, but after the pandemic we felt it. Before the pandemic, I would work for two weeks, take out R$18,000 [of my own profit]. Now, at the two stands I don’t get R$10,000 a month. Things started to get expensive”, he added.

On the other side

Just like Paulo César, butcher Manoel Quintela de Moura felt the impact of the fall in meat sales at his point inside the Municipal Fair in the Japiim neighborhood, also in the South Zone of Manaus. Working there with his trade since 1971, he used to sell up to eight cut steers in a week. Today, it is only one every week.

“The pandemic came to make many people unemployed, and unemployment weakens any trade. Before the pandemic, I used to sell about three oxen, today it is only one”, he says.

The butcher, a traditional but little known name given to butchers, still remembers the times of the “fat cows”, when sales were intense. But today, he says, the small businesses have been “swallowed up” by the big supermarkets and other competing markets. “I arrived in ’71 here. This fair didn’t have the conditions to accumulate the people that came on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And I used to cut eight quarts of meat at that time, but there were people who cut 18. I used to cut a range of 50 chickens, but then other fairs and supermarkets came along, and then it got smaller and smaller”, he recalls.

Speech by a specialist

The continuous increase in inflation discourages the economic scenario for 2022, which did not start “very comfortably for Brazilians”, according to economist Denise Kassama. She highlights that, in the monthly budget, Brazilians will have to prioritize food.

“The inflation of 10.06% in 2021 and a Selic rate of 10.75%, the low economic activity and an inexpressible growth, signal that 2022 will not be an easy year. Because of these indicators, the expectation this year is for low or average economic growth and a high cost of living. With inflation above 10%, Brazilians should prioritize the consumption of essential items, such as food. And in this sense, the basic food basket of Manaus is among the most expensive in the country, which according to FGV, recorded an increase of 7.8%”, explains Denise.

The economist also gives tips on how to save money on the month’s purchases. “In this sense, conducting price research is essential to find more affordable prices. Looking for alternatives to consumption habits, especially food habits, also helps a lot. Pork or chicken can be cheaper than beef. Keeping a spreadsheet of monthly income and expenses also helps to control the budget and work to reduce the higher costs. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either”, he concludes.