In every country, traditions develop over the years and people generally like them. Why the traditions develop is a different story but in general, what people eat has developed over many years. The food traditions typically developed around the landscape – in moderate temperatures where beef cattle roam and there is plenty of land and food, people eat beef. In climates which are have a lot of moisture, people developed and harvested rice. Often as people move around the country and the world, those habits will change but in times of festivals they come out again.

In an article by Candelaria Grimberg of Reuters, if you think about the country of Argentina, you likely will think about temperate weather, wide open plains and lots of beef cattle. Not surprisingly, beef has been a stable food item for generations. Many Argentine home have built in grills to cook the beef. Steakhouses dot street corners around Buenos Aires and barbecues can be found at constructions sites and protests.

Beef is an integral part of the Argentine diet. Looking at the diet of a country and examining it for trends can tell you what the average person in the street is worried about. Argentina’s economy has been going on a rough patch with triple digit inflation (about 300%) and a recession. While new President Javier Milei is pushing through austerity measures to lessen the government’s role in the economy, the economy is not doing well.

One of the places you see it, is in the butcher shop. People are still buying beef, but they are choosing less expensive cuts and looking for alternatives for their protein. There are alternatives as much of the world lives without meat, but it takes a changing economy to do the alternatives.

Beef demand is down, for the cattle industry the good news is exports have risen with the biggest customer China has increased buyer of Argentina beef.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all areas of the world have traditions and some of the traditions will benefit particular stocks. For your investments, for the biggest markets, what traditions help continue to sell the goods and services? Why would that change? by looking at people’s traditions it can help you understand the overall economy and why they continue to buy the goods.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.