For many in the hospitality sector, recovering from COVID lockdowns was a bridge too far. And then came inflation and rapidly rising prices which acted as a damper on patrons who were cutting discretionary spending to make ends meet.
In short, being in the food and beverage business has not been easy in the past five years. For example, three restaurants in Regina closed their doors on the same weekend this fall.
The latest figures on aggregate sales in bars and restaurants tabulated by StatsCanada says there is some room for optimism – revenues in eight of the ten provinces went up in August – but bar and taverns were down for the month and the year, nationally.
Here in Saskatchewan, overall revenues for the sector went up in August, adding to what has been a year of sales growth. Total receipts were up about 6-percent for the year which is #3 in Canada in terms of improvement. We don’t have a regional breakdown but nationally, the gains can be attributed entirely to higher prices, not more patronage or volume.
