Saskatchewan’s hospitality sector was feeling the pinch of belt tightening on discretionary spending through a big chunk of last year.
The most recent figures on sales at food and beverage outlets are from October and the trend that started early in the summer showed no signs of letting up as we got into the fall. Sales fell throughout the summer and that trend was extended into the early fall, especially at full-service restaurants and bars.
This is doubly troubling because prices were rising through that period too. So the cost of a beer or meal was going up but total revenues were declining. In other words, this was one place people looked to to trim their budgets.
The drop was especially evident in October – it was down about five per cent from September, which was the sharpest decline in half a year.
The one segment that did see improved sales was specialty food outlets which includes businesses such as caterers and food trucks. Their revenues were rising, a bump likely generated by firms serving the northern mining camps which were ramping up activity once again.
