MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sales of choripanes falls 80% in Argentina due to sanitary restrictions

Crowdless football dealt a severe blow to choripán consumption

In Argentina, choripán is a portmanteau word for chorizo (pork sausage) sandwich (chorizo + pan = bread): It is also the most popular food and has tremendous political connotations.

It is said that many of the large gatherings at squares in apparent support of the various political candidates are not driven by the people's adherence to a particular politician's stance on the various issues at stake, but rather by the promise that they will receive a choripán and a soft drink in compensation.

A report released Friday has shown the sale of choripanes has shrunk 80% in the pandemic, according to Daniel Urcía, head of the Federation of Argentine Regional Refrigerating Industries (Fifra),

“Consumption fell due to restrictions, being a product that is consumed spontaneously and stopped,” Urcía said in a radio interview.

During this week's national football World Cup qualifier against Bolivia -with Argentina won 3-0 thanks to a hat-trick from captain Lionel Messi- “there were no choripanes around the field,” said Urcía about a match where spectators were allowed back in, albeit through a most strict sanitary protocol.

“The price of choripán always competed with that of hamburgers and tenderloin and was always below [those two]. The price of fresh chorizo has followed that of beef, but there are competitive companies” which have equalled the price of chorizo to that of the hamburger.

According to Urcía and owing to fanless football, 1.2 million fewer choripán units were sold.

The choripán has just been singled out as one of the best sandwiches in the world and classified as ”great“ according to the magazine specialized in typical food Taste Atlas.

The “chori” -as it is known in its short form- competed with other very famous sandwiches such as smoked meat from Canada, Croque monsieur from France and avocado toast, among other renowned dishes.