大咖福利影院

Bigbrad2008 wrote:

We should let him answer

Sorry I missed all that...

I moved here back in 2017, so I'm not talking about covid-19 (except that it reminded me of the discrepancy in meat prices).聽

I originally thought that meat prices would be cheaper at the Sunday markets, but after converting the price per pound they charge at the market to $/kilo like they charge at the supermarket, most meat in this area seems to be cheaper at Supermaxi - though, bizarrely, fish and seafood are usually cheaper at the market even though we're in the mountains nowhere near the ocean... The cheapest meat here is ground beef at ~$3.50/kilo (~$1.60/lb... which is actually cheaper than what I paid in the US).

As for price changes, I was at the Supermaxi a couple weeks ago and prices hadn't changed on beef or chicken since the last time I went shopping over 2 months ago.

The reasons I was asking here are twofold: Some expats have looked into investments/doing business in Ecuador and may have already researched this.聽 Secondly, I have no idea if there exists an online forum of large scale meat producers from Ecuador and other countries where the question might more properly be addressed.

Bigbrad2008 wrote:

I don't know the answers to either question.聽 In regards to less land with confinement raising of livestock, it is not a big change in regards to land needed. Why? Even when animals are in a small space, you use a lot of land to raise the feed they eat. The biggest change is the specialization.

True.聽 Was just thinking of the actual "ranch" land.聽 Granted, where I'm located most cattle is "free range" so it's about 1 hectare per animal... Was just meaning that in a factory farm, the land cost, if significant, would go into the feed price as opposed to the actual cost to the factory farmer.聽 And as most feed is produced outside Ecuador...聽 I suspect that the cost has something to do with either regulation (anti-GMO/etc), taxes/fees, or tariffs (on imported meat or feeds).聽 But that's just me as an industry outsider taking guesses.

Actually, I may be completely wrong:聽 As of 2015, the price a producer/rancher got for beef was only $0.70/lb while beef at markets sold for $3.50/lb.聽 So while someone's getting rich off beef production, it certainly isn't the ranchers. I'd assumed that the majority of the price was production.... Didn't imagine the middlemen would be charging five times the price they paid.

Bigbrad2008 wrote:

The 70 cents a pound is live weight, the cow on the hoof. Lots of bone, guts etc get tossed. But there is a big profit between the farmer and the consumer at times...

Fair enough and I thought I might be wrong on this, but I looked it up...聽 When I was last in the US, the live cattle price was between $1 and $1.25 and I was still able to buy chuck roast, round, etc., for $2/lb so there is definitely still a huge price discrepancy for which I don't know the reason (unless it is just price gouging by merchants).聽

If it is, it seems like anyone could open a meat market, charge half what the markets/stores are charging, pay the producers more, and still make a healthy profit...聽 Doesn't seem to make sense unless there is some sort of market failure (monopoly/government or criminal interference).

Edit: Just in case it isn't clear should someone come along later and read our messages, I know that live cattle price per pound doesn't equate to price in meat per pound because while a chuck, round or sirloin roast might cost only $2/lb in certain parts of the US, ribeye, tenderloin and steaks may cost between $6 and $10/lb or more.聽 However, for comparing prices between the two countries (both live and meat), it is useful.

antialiased wrote:

So, for background: In the USA, before I moved here to Loja, Ecuador, I never paid more than $1/lb for bone-in chicken legs/thighs/wings and never more than $2/lb for stewing/roasting beef.聽 Here, I'm lucky if I can find meats for double that price.

I'm curious, if anyone knows: Why are the prices are so much more here?

I've been thinking about it lately with talk of rising prices in the US.聽 Labor is certainly cheaper here.聽 Land seems a lot more expensive here (though most factory farming doesn't take much land).聽 Not sure on the comparative prices of bulk feed/grains, so that could certainly be a cause.聽 Electricity for refrigeration seems similarly priced.聽 I don't know which regulations, import prohibitions, or tariffs may apply to meat/meat production, so any of those might also be to blame.

Just curious if anyone knows as, to me, the reason for the high prices is not obvious.聽 Or, if meats are cheaper where you are in Ecuador, I'd be interested in hearing about that as well.

my guess is efficiencies and sophistication in the Supply Chain in North America vs. Ecuador is a primary driver of price differences, rather than overheads like labor and property.

The US has an extremely sophisticated market distribution system infrastructure (road, rail, air). Combine that with innovations in automation, tracking of individual SKUs (including sales velocity). plus now machine learning and AI!聽

the other part might be how major chains, especially Kroger, engage in loss-leading marketing. So they lose money on turkey in November while making enormous profits on other items likely to be in your cart that week. this kind of gimmicky marketing seems to be totally absent from Ecuador. I'm a bigger fan of the dependably low prices at Costco.

Another price driver is location in US-- but it has little to do with acquisition cost of the property, and more to do with the prices the locals living in that neighborhood are willing to pay. Having just experienced this phenomena during the holidays, Kroger in Cincinnati is quite a bit cheaper overall than Ralph's (owned by Kroger) in Los Angeles for identical items-- but not every item.

In Guayaquil, since the lockdown, I buy most of my meat at La Espanola. In normal life, I buy more often at supermaxi. but like all things, the more one shops around, we notice surprising differences in prices-- I usually get frozen large peeled uncooked shrimp in supermaxi for about $6.50 per pound. But then I started noticing mini-tiendas in my neighborhood selling unbranded frozen shrimp for $3.10 per pound! I tried it and it was just as delicious. The least expensive Ground beef at la espanola is around $1 to $1.50 per pound. Chicken legs also go for $1.20 to $1.50.

What I don't get is the price of pork here! I'm used to paying about $1 to $1.50 a pound for shoulder in the US, and around $2-$3 a pound for ribs.聽 $6 for ribs at La Espanola. Needless to say, I don't buy them. Once the quarantine is over, I'm on a mission to find good pork at a decent price.

When my wife and I spent a week in Ambato, we were thrilled to see that we got about 25% more for our money for fruits and vegetables in Mercado Modelo. I also liked how trout, one of my favorite fishes, was very plentiful in ambato, but extremely hard to find in Guayaquil.

lebowski888 wrote:

... Chicken legs also go for $1.20 to $1.50.

What I don't get is the price of pork here! I'm used to paying about $1 to $1.50 a pound for shoulder in the US, and around $2-$3 a pound for ribs.聽 $6 for ribs at La Espanola. Needless to say, I don't buy them...

Nice.聽 聽Here chicken legs are $2/lb or more.聽 And ditto on pork... Haven't bought any pork since I moved here.聽 Almost forgot it was a meat after 3 years without it.

susanilla wrote:

Very strange thread.聽 Either the OP has not bought meat in the US for a long time, or he lived in some area with a super low cost of living...

Maybe it was the area, but I'm guessing it's just the difference between rural and urban prices.聽 Just checked to make sure... Where I used to live, chicken (whole/quarters) were $0.79/lb a year ago and currently are only up to $0.99/lb during the pandemic.



Edit: Just to clarify, my state had no beef or chicken producers to speak of, so prices couldn't have been influenced by proximity. The industry was mostly just tourism; which made the cost of living significantly higher than other rural areas.

susanilla wrote:

Another thought. Maybe the beef in Ecuador is not raised in those enormous feed lots (CAFO) beef?聽 聽And the chickens are not raised in industrial places that have tens of thousands in buildings?聽

I thought that was possible, but the prices the farmers/ranchers get here for cattle (live beef) is much less per pound than in the US.聽 The extra money appears to go to either the slaughterhouse/meat-packing industry or to the retailers.