Restaurant owners in Timmins face rising food costs
Restaurants in Timmins are doing what they can to keep the doors open as food and production costs continue to rise.
Two owners said rising costs are a big problem as they try to keep their respective businesses going during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Casey's Grill and Bar in Timmins has been serving customers for thirty-eight years. It’s owner said she's never seen food prices climb like they have since the onset of the pandemic.
Now, Sylvia Reid is struggling on what decisions to make.
“We haven’t raised our prices here in seven years. So now with the cost and everything on produce and meat. It’s hard with these times. So, how do you put up your prices now,” said Reid
“And we were also looking to revamp our menu, and it’s so hard cause you never know from week-to-week what you’re going to receive and what you’re not going to receive."
She said other owners have told her they're considering taking Cesar salad off menus. Her kitchen manager, Todd Fountain, said the price of lettuce has more than doubled in a year.
“Most of our produce is American right now and like Sylvia said, romaine lettuce is nearing $120 a case for twenty-four heads, and iceberg is even more than that; it’s over $120 a case. I just think they need to figure out the supply chain issues," Fountain said.
At Radical Gardens, owners and staff said they're always trying to come up with new ways to stay afloat.
Owner Brianna Humphrey said costs to give her staff a living wage, and to maintain its eco-friendly standing and high quality menus, -as left her with no choice but to increase prices.
"Cause our blanket cost increase is about three to four per-cent and then on top of that you have anywhere from a three-hundred per cent increase to like an eight per cent increase. We had to do something about this or we weren’t going to be around much longer," said Humphrey.
She said the restaurant industry needs to change as a whole alluding to the issue of staff shortages as a result of people not making a living wage, or receiving food from their places of work, calling it unacceptable.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.