Your restaurant bill is about to get even pricier. Here's why
CBC
Restaurants across Canada say they will have raised their menu prices by more than seven per cent by the end of the year in a bid to keep profits sustainable and offset the rising cost of food.
Some restaurants are raising them even more.
In its annual report, Foodservices Facts, Restaurants Canada says menu prices at full-service restaurants are set to increase by about 7.8 per cent by the end of 2022.
About 35 per cent of full-service restaurant operators plan to raise their menu prices by more than that, with many increasing them between 10 and 15 per cent by the end of the year, according to the report.
The report cites the war in Ukraine and high energy costs as contributing factors to the high cost of food restaurant owners are experiencing.
It says food costs are among the top challenges currently facing food service operators, with 542 B.C. restaurants out of nearly 10,000 permanently closing their doors between April 2021 and July 2022.
WATCH | Restaurateur talks about the struggles in the food-supply business:
Mitsy Tsoukas, the owner of Neighbour's Restaurant & Pizza House in Vancouver, says she is raising her menu prices as soon as this week.
"They have to go up because we've done our quarterly, and it's not working the way that it is," Tsoukas told Michelle Elliot, the host of the CBC's B.C. Today, on Thursday.
She says if prices decrease, she "absolutely" would lower her menu prices.
Mark von Schellwitz, the vice president of Western Canada with Restaurants Canada, says restaurants still have some "incredible hurdles to overcome" in recovering from the pandemic and inflation.
"You are talking [substantial] increases in our food costs. When you look at dairy, it's up nearly 20 per cent, beef 16 per cent, cooking oil 20 per cent. There's been a lot of inflationary pressure ... and our natural gas costs have gone up by about 22 per cent as well."
He says about 85 per cent of restaurants in Western Canada went into additional debt to keep their doors open during the pandemic, and with the current labour shortages, restaurants are still struggling to rehire staff as they try to attract employers back with increased wages.
"We have more than half of our members that are still losing money or just breaking even right now," he said.
At a Prince Albert public library branch, the usual quiet is replaced with the sound of children laughing and lining up for autographs as Prince Albert Raiders players settle in for an evening of reading.
When a fire broke out at the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market in the early hours of Christmas Day, John Bell was among the first on scene.
For the first time in 20 years, Edmonton’s police chief is a local hire.
One of the most popular hot springs in northeastern B.C. appears to be cooling off — or at the very least feeling that way — according to First Nations researchers who have been taking the temperature of the popular spot off the Alaska Highway.
No longer do the waves of Lake Timmicaca lap against car bumpers.
Municipal councils across Essex County and in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have spent this year’s budget season trying to keep tax increases manageable while battling inflation and soaring policing costs and weighing the immediate cost of repairing aging infrastructure against the long-term cost of holding off.
Construction on Marda Loop’s main streets project may have quieted down, but redevelopment work continues at several locations along 34th Avenue. This time, the focus is on preserving the street’s history.
As both the provincial and federal governments hone in on mining opportunities in northern Ontario, supporting local industries and building safer highways are top of mind for regional leaders this year.
Tucked inside Toronto’s leafy, quiet and private residential neighbourhoods are facades that tell the story of another time in the city’s urban planning history.
Ontario’s two main opposition parties will try to turn the page on what was a difficult year, with one rebuilding after an underwhelming leadership vote result and another searching for a new person to take the party helm.
This year, two things will happen to Canada's fiscal watchdog: Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques will be replaced or made permanent, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will publish its review of the office.
As the era of bilateral bad blood between Canada and the U.S. drags on, some snowbirds are facing a choice this January: Go south to warmer climes, or boycott a country that has gone from friend to somewhat of a foe.
RCMP are warning people of slippery conditions on the Trans-Canada Highway after a transport truck slid off the road in the area of Clarenville, N.L.