The food and beverage business in this province is once again finding its footing after COVID.
Compared to other parts of the country, Saskatchewan’s hospitality sector has fared quite well. It didn’t have to cope with the extended restrictions and even outright curfews that were imposed by governments in other parts of the country, so, they didn’t see sales drop as steeply as other regions. That means they didn’t have to climb back as far either to regain their pre-COVID positions.
We have just seen numbers for this industry’s performance in March which show Saskatchewan’s food and beverage outlets may be finding some form of equilibrium. Sales in March were almost identical to the February figures. In other words, they look steady.
Compared to a year ago, that is a 15 per cent improvement, but that figure is almost the lowest in the land. Ontario was up 40 per cent compared to a year earlier and Quebec, where the curfews shuttered restaurants and bars, sales rebounded more than 50 per cent in the year that ended in March.
