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
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Peel police say.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.
Health Canada warns some naloxone kits contain false instructions
Health Canada is warning some take-home naloxone kits come with bad instructions that should be ignored in favour of the correct guidance.