Saskatchewan hospitality businesses are trying to break even as inflation barrages their bottom lines. (CKOM News/File photo)

By CKOM News - Libby Gray

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Businesses within Saskatchewan’s hospitality industry have been struggling to keep plates in the air since the pandemic, but they might be facing their hardest season yet.

Jim Bence, CEO of Hospitality Saskatchewan, told Evan Bray on Thursday that he’s been hearing from operators that right now has been a more difficult time for them than any time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s a lot of pressures on, in particular, our small and medium-sized operators right now,” Bence said, noting that financial and staffing challenges are weighing heavy on the minds of people in the industry.

The last few years have seen costs rise as much as seven per cent, Bence noted, putting significant pressure on people running restaurants, for example.

“How much can you pass on to the customer before they put away their wallet,” Bence asked.

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Restaurant owners and operators have been exceptionally conscious of menu pricing, the CEO said, knowing their own food and fixed costs have increased and understanding increases on the prices they charge will have to reflect that if they hope to break even.

Bence relayed a statistic from Restaurants Canada, which found that 53 per cent of restaurants today are operating at a loss, compared to 12 per cent before the pandemic.

“It’s really tough,” Bence told Bray.

Hospitality Saskatchewan has been encouraging smaller operators in the industry to work with buying groups to help find pennies and win back buying power, as they don’t benefit from the same prices negotiated with suppliers for large-scale orders placed by bigger, branded outfits.

Bence said every penny counts as sticker shock proves to be “eye-popping.” Even when the costs of some expenses might abate, Bence noted that surcharges or fuel charges added on to deliveries when prices were high have not gone away.

As a result, restaurants many never thought would close are locking their doors and putting their equipment up on auction sites to make back what little they can.

A lack of resources is another part of the complex, layered problems within the hospitality industry.

“I’ll wrestle health care any day of the week around the employment piece,” Bence said, referring to the difficulties faced in both areas in recruiting, hiring and retaining workers.

He said the pandemic brought an evaporation of workers with COVID-19 public health measures and closures, pushing many from the industry towards other jobs that were still operating during the pandemic.

Mental health became a key issue of consideration, especially during the pandemic, for the hospitality industry. At one point, Bence said 35 of Hospitality Saskatchewan’s members lost insurance and could not acquire new coverage.

One night, the organization called RCMP for wellness checks on a half dozen operators.

“Those are my hardest days,” Bence said.

With these shortages, however, Bence said there are opportunities.

Saskatchewan does offer incentives to grow the food industry in the province and Bence noted the “youthful” tone of the industry can be a draw to students — seven out of ten kids get their first job in the hospitality industry. Whether a summer job or potential for more, Bence said Saskatchewan is home to post-secondary institutions who are able to provide excellent training for chefs and other hospitality work.

Bence is grateful to the Government of Saskatchewan for the work its done to support the industry.

Recently, 3,000 resumes came in from people across Canada applying to the BELONG Saskatchewan program, encouraging people from out-of-province who might want to stay long-term in Canada and make their home in Saskatchewan to come to the province for jobs in the hospitality and trucking industries.

While Bence said the priority is always to hire from Saskatchewan first, jobs need to be filled and he’s excited about the many excellent applicants looking to come to the province.