Restaurants in Saskatoon had their fill of inflation
From the cost of butter to lettuce, Saskatoon eating establishments are feeling the effects of inflation.
O’Shea’s Irish Pub is seeing inflated prices on everything from vegetable oil to takeout containers and coffee filters.
“It's really difficult to be in the restaurant business,” said co-owner Daniel Ford Beavis.
He says vegetable oil has risen to four times what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Romaine lettuce used to be $34 a case, now he's paying $178. Beavis uses the example that food costs should be around 30-40 per cent of a restaurant budget, now at O’Shea’s it makes up 50 to 60 per cent.
“There's nothing where I can say ‘oh geez, that's coming down,’ ” said Beavis.
Even as costs have risen, the pub has chosen to absorb the expenses instead of increasing their prices.
“We're not really in a position where we want to transfer that off to the customers,” said Beavis. “We've just got to keep going and hope it all passes, and hope we can make it through.”
The Shoppe — which provides treats, coffee and juice — is feeling the same pinch.
For its baked goods it uses roughly 50 pounds of butter a day, which it says has increased by 1.5 times since the COVID-19 Pandemic hit.
“A stick of butter was $3 and now, they're $6. That's a significant increase,” said Ben Quarttrini, The Shoppe owner.
The store makes fresh orange juice in-house. It used to pay $26 for one box oranges, now it's $62.
“We’re seeing increases up to 50 per cent and when you’re using hundreds of these products over the span of a week or a month it’s very substantial,” he said.
According to Hospitality Saskatchewan, some businesses could be having a tougher time than when the pandemic hit.
“I think that when we look at the expense reports on everybody's ledger, there's not a single line that hasn't seen some sort of increase,” said Jim Bence, president of Hospitality Saskatchewan.
Both eating establishments CTV news spoke with say customers can help alleviate some of the inflation pressure by dining or ordering-in instead of through a third-party delivery service.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.