TORONTO — The Re-Seasoning Coalition (TRSC), a non-profit initiative dedicated to helping achieve greater representation for Black Canadians within the foodservice industry at every level, has launched with support from Restaurants Canada.
Through a series of interactive modules, TRSC will assess and validate participants’ HR policies to reconfigure them in alignment with anti-racist and anti-oppression guidelines in a bid to equip participating companies with the tools and frameworks that will help them attract diverse talent.
In launching TRSC, the initiative partnered with Technomic to understand the Black guest and employee experience within the foodservice industry. The findings include the following:
- Canadian consumers see a need for diversity, equity and inclusion practices to be implemented at the restaurants and in the food-delivery apps they use, with 48 per cent of Canadians saying it should be a priority and 58 per cent ages 18 to 34 also in agreement;
- Black consumers are more likely to experience or witness racial discrimination at restaurants, with 69 per cent of Black guests saying they have experienced or witnessed racial prejudice compared to 51 per cent for the national average; and
- Black employees are more likely to experience or witness racial discrimination at work, with 50 per cent in agreement with this statement, compared to 29 per cent of employees of other races
“Restaurants Canada is thrilled to support The Re-Seasoning Coalition in its aim to disrupt discriminatory and racially biased frameworks,” says Christian Buhagiar, president and CEO, Restaurants Canada. “We look forward to supporting businesses to achieve a more diverse, equitable and inclusive future.”
