The Consortium of Argentine Meat Exporters (ABC, for its acronym in English) assured that with the next implementation of the chopping system for the local beef retail trade, distortions, such as that of the so-called “lomeros”, will be eliminated.
In recent days, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries recalled that on November 1 the chopping system for the local beef retail trade will come into force, so that from that date the half carcasses must be fractionated in parts that do not exceed 32 kilos.
In a statement titled “Lomeros: a distortion in the meat market that we are going to overcome with quartering“, the ABC stated that it is an activity arising from a “deep inequality of the system of commercialization of meat by the system of average carcasses”.
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The lomeros are dedicated to buying the highest value cuts of meat in the areas where beef is distributed in half carcasses and the purchasing power of consumers in that neighborhood prevents them from being sold at their market value, the entity explained.
“When the butcher receives a half carcass, he mainly sells the cuts that are consumed by customers in his area; but there are cuts, such as the loin, that he cannot sell to people in his neighborhood, but to a specific actor: the lomero”assured.
According to ABC, due to the traditional system of distribution by half carcasses, which delivers all the beef cuts in one piece, the butcher receives cuts that are difficult for him to sell, causing him to resort to survival strategies, such as selling at a lower value or chop the meat to try to recover the cost of the merchandise.
The lomeros buy these parts at a slightly higher price than what is obtained at the counter, to later redistribute them in areas with greater purchasing power or in the gastronomic circuit, where they obtain a logical profit margin, which is what stops capture the butcher by operating under the half carcass system, he indicated.
According to market studies carried out by the consortium of exporters, the total loss of the value of the half carcass (due to the lomeros and other “inefficiencies” of the system) is 10% of the total volume sold.
With the new system, the butcher will be able to order the quarters (front, grill or rear) that are sold the most in his area and, in this way, obtain savings or an offer suited to the needs of his clients, which he can pass on to the prices to balance them in favor of consumers.
And, in those areas where higher-priced cuts are demanded, they will be able to do the same by requesting the room that is most convenient for consumers in their neighborhood, the entity concluded.
