Chilean meat consumers favour poultry

Chileans are positioned as major consumers of processed meats in Latin American.

Chilean consumption of processed meat per capita is the highest in Latin America.

Chile attained this position with a consumption of 8.1 kgs of processed meat per capita. Poultry meat is the favorite among Chileans reaching a per capita consumption of 37 kgs.

During the last five years, growth in processed meats among Chileans has increased 10.4%, reaching a total market of 143,000 tonnes in 2013, according to Euromonitor International. Argentina consumed 7.4 kgs per person of processed meat and lies in second place behind Chile.

Statistics from the Office of Agricultural Studies and Policies of Chile (ODEPA) indicate that per capita consumption of poultry meat was 37 kgs, per capita consumption of pork meat was 27 kgs and per capita consumption beef was 22.4 kgs.

Chile’s domestic production currently reaches more than one million tons, according to figures from January to July 2013, with poultry meat being more than 300,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, meat imports totalled over 217,000 tonnes in the same period with beef, predominantly from Brazil (52%), Argentina (22%) and Uruguay (10%), occupying the largest share. In contrast, pork is the meat product most exported, exceeding 72,000 tonnes. This meat is exported mainly to Japan.