On the viability of exporting guinea pigs from Peru to China
March 9th, 2009
Peru is going through something of a domestic guinea pig boom at the moment. Long a traditional protein source in the Andes, guinea pigs are now being produced and sold in greater numbers because of breeding improvements and genetic engineering. The animals, which reproduce extremely quickly, are full of protein and low in fat. Cuy, as it is called in Peru, can be fried, broiled, roasted or turned into soup. Peruvians eat about 65 million guinea pigs annually.
The problem for the real cuy entrepreneurs is how to expand their market beyond Peru’s borders. For most, guinea pigs are still furry pets or labratory animals – not especially appetizing.
In the past, Peru has pitched “super guinea pigs” (genetically tinkered, 2.5-pound porkers) to markets overseas. Andean farmers have built small businesses exporting guinea pigs to Peruvian immigrant communities abroad. But, to date, the cuy market has been a niche one. As Lilia Chauca Francia, head of Peru’s National Agrarian Research Institute Cuy Project, sums up in the Peruvian Times article linked above: “It can only be exported to sepecific areas in Europe and the U.S. where Peruvians live.”
Only?
It is time for Peru’s economic planners – at the “Cuy Project” and otherwise – to think outside the box a bit. Why not consider introducing guinea pig as a delicacy in China instead? Consider the following:
1. Cuteness will not impede consumption. Guinea pigs are cute, in their own rodent way. Whereas in the US, any guinea pig entrepreneur would need to find ways to tone-down the guinea pig’s lovableness, in China, it seems, cuteness may just indicate it tastes better. Take for instance, Xiao Fei Yang (little fat lamb) Hot Pot restaurants, ubiquitos in Shanghai and other cities. The restaurant’s mascot is an adorable, anthropormized cartoon lamb in a bow tie. Delicious.
Or, I think about the time I had to point the finger of death at a rabbit hot pot restaurant on the outskirts of Chengdu, Sichuan province. I’d stood next to a large wire cage stacked with white bunnies, a man with a butterfly net and scale, and bloodsplattered white-tile wall. I got queasy watching the butchery, but the three eight-year-old girls standing near me didn’t blink.
2. What pet-vs-food debate? Cuteness brings us to pets. In China, I knew dog owners who ate dog. Yet, this did not mean they would ever eat their own pet, mind you. Any attempt to export guinea pigs to the US or Europe would be a struggle because there are classes of animals that are ruled out as pets for pretty much all people. In China, dietary customs vary widely. In a lot of places, there is plenty of overlap between pets and food. Tip for cuy salesman: start in Guangdong.
3. The guinea-pig marketing campaign writes itself. “Since 2,500 BC, Andean people have believed in the mystical healing and nourishing ability of the guinea pig. The animals were first used by ritual healers to diagnose illness and later consumed on the misty tops of the Andean range. They have brought nourishment, strength, virility, luck and prosperity to Peruvians for generations.” (Well, nourishment, anyway). The more exotic, the better.
4. Food for the recession. Consider the economics from an offical in Lima last December: Guinea pigs can feed a family of seven or eight for US$3.20. Last year, Peru’s governement recommended struggling families eat guinea pigs for Christmas dinner in place of a traditional turkey or pork roast. In China, meanwhile pork prices soared last year, forcing a number of families to cut back on meat consumption. Not even eight bowls of Lanzhou lamian would be as cheap a meal as a guinea pig roast.
5. Peruvian animals in China are already all the rage. Stuffed alpacas are selling well at the moment in China. Alpaca dolls are standing in for made-up animals called “grass-mud horses,” the stars of a current internet fad based on puns.
6. And on the subject of puns… “It’s keyi to eat cuy!” (It’s OK to eat guinea pigs!). Just a thought.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Cool. But you still haven’t told us the most important: does it taste good? And have you tried it?
Oh, lets open a business to import cuy pigs, before the Peruvians get the market.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Haven’t tried it yet, but it’s a high priority when I head to the Andes next week. I’ve read descriptions of the taste that run from “dark-meat rabbit” to, well, chicken.
March 12th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Tom, I almost lost it when I saw this picture. Talk about one step forward, two giant leaps back in my “let’s get over vegetarianism” progress.
You’re a brave man…
March 18th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Rodent as food in China is a common practice already. There shouldn’t be any marketing problem. However, what is going to stop Chinese from starting a farming operation with these critters ? Or, why didn’t Chinese started a farming operation with their local rodents ? May be it is already abundant in the country side and it is cheap ? Will Peruvian import compete with the local wild ?
March 18th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Bill: I shudder at the image of a ¨guinea pig farm¨ in China, but, you´re right, it would only be a matter of time. I reckon, as a Peruvian exporter, you´d have to concentrate on the high-end market – selling ¨authentic¨ Andean pigs the same way restaurants mark up Vietnamese bird´s nests and Waygu beef.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
[...] Pellman (via How the World Works at Cite), an American writer living in Lima, Peru, comes “On the viability of exporting guinea pigs from Peru to China,” and news that the rodents “reproduce extremely quickly, are full of protein and low [...]
March 19th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Living in Shanghai for a month I’ve certainly expanded what I had considered to be my already broad eating experiences. I agree, Cuy (how is that pronounced?) would take off like a rocket here in China, and with 1.3 billion potential customers why not.
The scary thing is as I read this article I am being watched by a stuffed alpaca on a desk in front of mine, I’d often wondered about it.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Cuy is quite tasty, if covered in a slightly rubbery skin. The usual Peruvian roast recipe results in tender sweet, slightly gamey meat that tastes a little like Chinese char siu. I could imagine having shredded cuy in my fried noodles.
Alpaca is also excellent, like wind-dried, hung beef.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:08 am
[...] 2. Cuy, China import of the day? [...]
March 20th, 2009 at 11:39 am
You know, give the Chinese chefs enough time and they’ll find an AWESOME way to prepare it so the skin is PERFECT and the meat is delicious and years of the peruvian style prep of the critter will be forgotten!
March 20th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
[...] On the viability of exporting guinea pigs from Peru to China My, erm, “instant classic” laying out the reasons Peru needs to consider sending cuy to China’s kitchens. [...]
March 20th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
A duck rice restaurant in Singapore faces the cuteness factor head on: a poster shows Donald Duck looking startled and horrified by the Chinese character for duck meat.
Cuteness is not a marketing problem in a culture that “eats everything whose back faces Heaven” (which is why it is very important, never to bow at a Chinese banquet).
March 21st, 2009 at 5:31 am
Patrick: Yes, there’s a lot of culinary weirdness to embrace in China, my thought is: Embrace it. And if you’re ever feeling unduly brave, checking out weirdmeat.com will put your feet back on the ground. Now THAT is weird meat! Cuy = koo-ee
Jin-Tee: Good to know. I’ve always wondered whether the Chinese say unfamiliar meat “tastes like chicken” the same way, say, Americans do. I’d imagine “char siu” would be their stepping stone.
Vivian: Don’t doubt it. Most cuy on the menus around Peru I’ve seen has deep-fried the critters, but crispy cuy with plum sauce and spring onions a la Beijing kaoya seems like it would work as well.
Tim: Indeed. I have yet to find that kind of playful irony in any restaurant I’ve been to on the mainland. Here’s hoping…
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:54 am
I swear I saw guinea pigs (or something similar) at a market in Luang Prabang, Laos last week.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:36 am
To shar,
I believe what you have seen are mouses or rats. (I was in Luang Prabang market last week as well.)
September 12th, 2009 at 11:38 am
How can I buy one of these super large guinea pigs as a pet? I always wished guinea pigs were larger. smkhaury@aol.com
September 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am
[...] said that guinea pigs will feed a family of up to eight people for only USD $3.20. Peruvians eat about 65 million guinea pigs per [...]
September 16th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
[...] said that guinea pigs will feed a family of up to eight people for only USD $3.20. Peruvians eat about 65 million guinea pigs per [...]
September 19th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I’m a USA expat living in Peru. I’ve acquired a ranch property for commercial production of cuyes in Chiclayo Peru. The local government Agricultural service has been very helpful.
Growing Cuyes in the proper environment for food production takes a substantial investment of time and money to insure a high quality and healthful product. A proper building, organic feed, large, clean pens, pure water, and constant care are required, not to mention accurate record keeping and health monitoring. I am very interested in the export market. And I’m looking for experienced exporters to supply.
Cuy is enjoyed using many different cooking methods. Depending on the cook, cuy can taste similar to “dark-meat” chicken but with a heartier flavor. I find the taste more satisfying in general than chicken. It has a mild flavor but isn’t bland like chicken. Depending on your comfort-recipe favorites for chicken, pork, or beef, substituting cuy in most of your meat dish recipes will provide a surpisingly pleasing taste.
For Gringos, it’s necessary to “dress” the cuy for palatable presentation. Not many Americans actually enjoy meat products with the head and feet still attached. Fish and pigs served with the head on aren’t as popular as they once were.
The world needs quality high protean low fat food products that have a pleasing flavor. Cuy meat produced properly will help to meet that need while remaining very cost efficient to the consumer.
One last comment for the adventurous spirit who might venture out to a pet store for groceries. Don’t. Guinea Pigs in the US are cute little pets. They are not grown in a manner remotely safe for eating. Don’t do it. Many animals sold in pet stores are not well in any case. They are certainly not intended to be consumed as food. Besides, they are small and hardly worth the effort even if it weren’t risky. Commercially bred Cuyes are a much larger animal that is both safe to eat and healthful. Bon appetite’.
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 am
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January 12th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
[...] the cuy. As the intriguing blog Double Handshake explains, the cuy, better know in the English-speaking world as the guinea pig, is a favored [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
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