TORONTO – Growth in Western Canada and a rebound in sales in Central Canada will help push restaurants sales up a healthy 4.7% in 2014, according to a new report from the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA). That's stronger than the previously projected 3.6%.
Every province will see higher restaurant sales next year, but booming economies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba mean they will lead the country with growth of more than 5% in each province.
"The Canadian economy is turning a corner, but rising food and labour costs, as well as competition for the food dollar, will continue to make this a challenging environment for restaurant operators," says Garth Whyte, CRFA's President and CEO. "What's clear from this forecast, however, is that our industry will continue to create jobs and investment in communities across the country in 2014."
CRFA uses an econometric model to forecast commercial foodservice sales by using the Conference Board of Canada's forecasts of disposable income, real GDP, employment and tourism to predict sales across the restaurant and food services industry until 2017.
CRFA is one of Canada's largest business associations, with 30,000 members representing restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and other foodservice providers. Canada's $65-billion restaurant industry employs more than one million people in communities across the country.
Source: Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association