Beef, pork, chicken, and other meats. Here the most common problem isn’t the product itself but the name of the cut — every country cuts and names meat cuts differently.
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Meat
Beef, pork, chicken, and other meats, and what their cuts are called in Peru.
1 - Chicken breast — cuts, prices, and how to pick it
What sets “pechuga especial” apart from “filete de pechuga,” how to pick a fresh one, real nutrition facts, and verified prices in Lima.
Prices in this article were pulled directly from Plaza Vea’s public API on July 20, 2026 (not from an automatic summary) and change constantly due to promotions and stock — use the source link to confirm the current price.
With chicken breast, the issue is almost never the brand — it’s the name of the cut. “Pechuga especial,” “pechuga normal,” “pechuga light,” and “filete de pechuga” aren’t the same thing, and that difference explains most of the price variation you’ll see on the shelf.
The cut name matters more than the brand
In the Peruvian market, chicken breast is sold in at least four different forms1:
| Cut name | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Pechuga normal | Skin-on, with part of the backbone attached |
| Pechuga especial | Skin-on, but without the backbone piece |
| Pechuga Light | No skin, no backbone — less fat |
| Filete de pechuga | Pure meat, no skin or bone — the classic cut for milanesa |
The fillet is the most processed cut (everything is usable meat, zero waste), so it costs the most per kilo. “Pechuga especial,” coming with skin and some bone, weighs more for what you pay — which is why it’s cheaper per kilo even though it yields less net meat.
How to pick a fresh one
- Color: pale, even pink. Grayish or yellowish tones are a sign it’s probably starting to spoil2.
- Texture: firm and slightly springy to the touch — never soft or slimy2.
- Smell: clean and neutral. A sour, ammonia-like, or rotten-egg smell means spoilage has already started2.
- Packaging: clean, sealed, no tears, and no excess liquid pooled in the tray.
Regulatory framework in Peru
Peru has 55 Peruvian Technical Standards (NTP) aimed at guaranteeing the quality and safety of meat and meat products, including poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, and hen) — 22 of them set quality requirements, 3 cover good hygiene practices across the production chain, and 30 cover testing and sampling methods for sanitary control3.
Nutrition facts (verified data)
There’s no barcode for a loose fresh chicken breast, so the source here is USDA’s nutrition database (via Wikipedia, which cites the USDA FoodData Central entry directly for “Chicken, breast, boneless, skinless, raw”):
| Per 100 g (raw, boneless, skinless breast)4 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fat | 2 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Energy | ~110 kcal (calculated from fat and protein using standard factors; the source doesn’t publish a direct energy value) |
For comparison: the same portion of raw beef flank steak has 9 g of fat and 20 g of protein — skinless chicken breast is notably leaner4.
Verified price
| Product | Form | Price per kilo | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pechuga especial x kg (generic) | Skin-on, no backbone | S/ 14.90 | Plaza Vea |
| SADIA chicken breast fillet | Frozen, imported | S/ 14.90 | Plaza Vea |
| Filete de pechuga x kg (generic) | Pure meat | S/ 21.90 | Plaza Vea |
| REDONDOS criollo-flavored fillet | 620 g pack, marinated | ≈ S/ 27.26/kg (S/ 16.90 per pack) | Plaza Vea |
| ARTISAN chicken breast fillet | Premium | S/ 29.90 | Plaza Vea |
The cut matters more than the brand here
The generic fillet (S/ 21.90/kg) costs more than the SADIA-branded, imported, frozen fillet (S/ 14.90/kg) — the type of cut and whether it’s fresh or frozen affect the price more than the brand itself.
How to store it
Per the FDA’s (US food safety agency) cold storage chart, for raw chicken — whole, in pieces, or ground5:
- Fridge: 1 to 2 days maximum, at 4 °C / 39 °F or below.
- Freezer: up to 9 months for pieces (12 months for whole chicken), well sealed with as little air in the package as possible.
- Thawing: always in the fridge, never at room temperature — thawing on the counter encourages bacterial growth.
Sources
-
Pulzo — “Cómo seleccionar un buen pollo y cómo saber si es de buena calidad” ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
-
INACAL / Peruvian State Platform — “Inacal cuenta con 55 normas técnicas para garantizar la calidad de las carnes y productos cárnicos en el país” ↩︎
-
Wikipedia (en) — “Chicken as food”, data from USDA FoodData Central (“Chicken, breast, boneless, skinless, raw”). ↩︎ ↩︎