TORONTO — The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s (CRFA) latest survey suggests that extreme winter weather may be partly to blame for low sales last quarter.
“Ice and snow are slowing business down, but they aren’st the only challenges facing the restaurant industry,” says Garth Whyte, CRFA president and CEO.
“Operators are also struggling against the headwinds of an uncertain economy, rising costs and made-in-Canada challenges such as beer and liquor monopolies and supply management in dairy and poultry.”
In the CRFA’s Restaurant Outlook Survey, 33 per cent of operators blamed bad weather for hurting business in Q4 of 2013, making it the fourth-largest issue identified in the survey. Of those surveyed, 37 per cent also reported lower sales in this quarter compared to the previous year.
