Trying to adapt to the problems of the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t easy as Canadian restaurants struggle to exist during this challenging time. The industry group Restaurants Canada, called “The Voice of Foodservice,” has taken surveys in various cities to find out where the owners stand and what they envision as they try to cope with sales that may be down over $200 million for 2020’s second quarter.
The surveys were conducted between March 25 and March 29 and between June 25 and July 3, 2020. They showed such statistics as:
* Restaurants emerging from the lockdown and reopening their dining rooms are struggling to break even due to increased staff and food costs while serving far fewer customers and an inability to pay rent and bills.
* Their industry was among the first to feel the COVID-19 impacts and was one of the hardest hit with nearly two-thirds of our workforce already lost, the worst numbers ever seen.
* Thousands of jobs were lost or were cut back in hours due to COVID-19 and probably will not be able to return.
* One in 10 restaurants had already permanently closed and many more were thought to close within a month or so.
Three Toronto restaurants, Burdock Brewery, Ten, and Richmond Station, have publicly declared their plan to do away with the staple of tipping with the goal of making their industry more equitable and to provide the service workers with access to a more evenly distributed “tip pooling” between the front-of-the-house staff and the back-of-the-house staff such as dishwashers and cooks. That would also eliminate racialized employees from being tipped less than the white workers and women having to deal with sexism and harassment from customers in order to get a tip.
Some plans are to add hospitality fees, or adding a mandatory 15% gratuity to its takeout orders, or raising the menu prices to include the service price. However, many workers see tipping as an effective tool to encourage better engagement between customers and servers, better service being given, and a more enthusiastic workforce. Also, patrons seem to prefer tipping over price increases on the menu items.
Restaurants Canada is there to support the success of restaurants, offer networking, invaluable research, updates on industry news, information on trade events and programs, and be an advocate on important issues. It is also the owner of Groupex, which is a group buying program for the benefit of independent restaurant operators.
