Restaurants in Regina struggle to keep up with industry inflation
Local restaurants have had to consider cost-cutting measures as the industry continues to feel the financial effects of the pandemic.
As business gets back to normal companies are trying to make up for lost revenue, including food suppliers who have had to increase costs for vendors.
“What we are seeing right now is inflationary trends,” John Hopkins, CEO of the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce, said. “So the suppliers are going to pay more and they are going to pass on there costs and ultimately it gets passed to the consumer.”
Hopkins said for restaurants, who were already struggling in this pandemic, food costs are rising and they have to find ways to make up for it.
“At the end of the day if the business is not making money, it has to make a decision. Are we going to lay off staff, are we going to eat the costs or are we going to increase prices,” Hopkins said.
Tim Rogers, co-owner of the Lancaster, said since restrictions lifted on July 11 he has seen a small customer increase, so increasing the menu prices wasn’t going to help offset the costs.
“We are at 50 per cent capacity so you know raising our prices isn’t really an option and so it’s starting to become challenging to operate,” Rogers said.
He said rising food prices were a concern before the pandemic, but now it’s hard to keep up.
“Pre-pandemic the Canadian national profitability of restaurants was somewhere around four per cent, so that’s four cents on the dollar that restaurants were making and that was before the pandemic,” Rogers said. “It’s at that or worse now so that makes it extremely challenging to do a business.”
Instead of laying off staff or changing too much in the restaurant, he decided to start working with local producers.
“In Saskatchewan we’re in the middle of where all the food is made,” he said. “It has basically forced us go out and go right to the suppliers and stop going to the big suppliers and try and work with the local producers.”
“It keeps all our ones right in the province so it’s a win all around. For us it’s the way of the future and I think a lot more restaurants will be going that way too,” Rogers added.
Rogers is optimistic that by September there will be a small economic boom with people going back to work and school that will help bring back some revenue.
He said many restaurants and those in the industry are also looking to both the provincial and federal governments for help, in terms of more support or tax exemptions, until they can get back on their feet.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'