Wings, roast beef and guacamole are some of the dishes that also have a stellar participation in the Super Bowl, but with the high prices of some of these ingredients, Mexicans have made an adjustment in their purchases to see the LVI edition of this event. sports, in which the Cincinnati Bengals will face the Los Angeles Rams.
Over the years, fans of this sport have grown in the country, and with it, the number of people who gather to watch the Super Bowl each year, or even who usually go to a restaurant, has also increased. whether or not the team of your choice plays.
But this edition of the Super Bowl will be marked by an unexpected phenomenon: inflation, which in January was 7.07%, and which caused the rise in the price of lemons (66.77%), chicken (4.44% and meat of beef (1.98%), which along with avocado (whose price increased 11.45%), are protagonists at the tables of those who watch the game.
Roberto del Valle, a sports fan, says that for gatherings with close friends and relatives he usually makes roast beef, although this year the dynamics will change to add other products to the menu, such as sausages. “The budget per family is 1,200. We always buy flank steak or steak, in addition to wings or boneless , but this year we are going to buy to make a buffet type of tacos, which reaches more, “he says.
Alejandro Martínez, a chicken merchant in a market north of Mexico City, has felt the change in his customers’ purchases since last year, when the increase in the price of this product began its ascent. “About seven years ago we noticed an increase in the demand for wings. Now, I prepare them and they generally sell more on the weekend,” he says. “But in recent months sales have dropped, now instead of three kilos, they take two or stop buying potatoes so that it is enough,” he adds.
Martínez says that with the Super Bowl he used to sell up to 55 extra kilos of prepared wings, but he estimates that this year the number will be reduced by half, since he does not expect there to be as much demand: this year people prefer to buy other products to snack on, such as fried foods or even vegetables such as carrots or jicama.
Alicia is one of the vegetable merchants of a tianguis that has a different location every day of the week in different neighborhoods of the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office. The vendor comments that with the price increases, lemon sales have dropped by up to 50%, while the ‘dealers’ take away the avocado “little by piece”, while other vegetables, such as carrots, which are also put on the tables as snacks , it is in greater demand.
After confinement, there are also those who will meet in a restaurant to watch the game. Armando Alcántara, for example, plans to attend a family group with the Bengals fans. Others will order food at home, such as Sandra Romo’s. “Since last year we haven’t met for the Super Bowl due to the pandemic. Everyone sees it from home and for me it is more comfortable and cheaper to order (at home) than to prepare”, he says with a laugh.
The restaurant sector says it is ready to welcome fans on a weekend in which they expect a rise in sales. Daniela Mijares, executive president of the National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Food Industry (CANIRAC), shares that during this weekend they foresee an economic spill of 1,400 million pesos per day, with an average ticket of 500 pesos per person.
“This weekend we expect a high economic spill. The Super Bowl, which attracts a completely different clientele and is normally congregated in certain types of restaurants, adds to the eve of the Day of love and friendship, a date that is also usually generate affluence in the restaurants”, said Mijares.
The representative of the restaurant industry added that, after the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, diners are already returning with greater influx to restaurants, and expect increases of 40%, considering that in some states there are reduced capacity, according to with the epidemiological traffic light.
