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
Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery caught on video
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.