The charqui (dried beef) is a very important food in the diet of slaves of sugarcane and coffee plantations and also of the poor people from the coastal cities of Brazil. The article analyzes the insertion of dried meat made from Pelotas (Rio Grande do Sul) in the atlantic market as well as competition with the Uruguayans and Argentines producers and how the wars fought in the southern border region affected the trade of goods. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the dried beef produced in the province of Rio Grande was losing part of its market in the Atlantic trade for the product manufactured in the Uruguay and Argentina, which was tastier and more affordable than platino product. In search of new consumer markets beyond Brazil and Cuba, both producers of province of Rio Grande and of Rio da Prata could not penetrate the British market, whose taste was more demanding and associated with the jerky food of slaves. Over time, the Argentines managed to modernize its industry by sending frozen meat to Europe, while the Rio Grande succumbed before this new competition and consumer demands meat, not resisting the ultimate crisis that affected the industry in the 1880s.
charqui; internactional trade; Rio Grande do Sul; Rio da Prata
