Another slow holiday season for Calgary caterers
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Posted Nov 16, 2021 6:44 pm.
Last Updated Nov 16, 2021 6:47 pm.
The holidays are supposed to be the busiest time of year for caterers.
But, with ongoing concerns about large gatherings, catering businesses are preparing for another slow season.
“Our normal Christmas bookings that we’ve done for 14 years in downtown Calgary are probably two per cent of what they used to be,” said Leslie Echino, the owner of Annabelle’s Kitchen.
“Normally we are doing pretty big Christmas parties, whether that be small, ten people, all the way up to three hundred people, so COVID has been different,” said Nicole Curtis, the experience director at Fork + Farm Catered Events.
Large gatherings may feel like a distant memory for many Calgarians – the same is felt by catering companies.
Fewer holiday bookings are the new reality for event-based businesses.
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“We would normally be booked up entirely now. We’re not there, but we do have some, so we are very optimistic,” said Jackie Tyler, the GM of Green Bean Restaurant and Catering.
The lack of bookings is something that can cause concern should things stay the same.
“Sales are down 80 per cent for the month of October. For November, we’re not looking at much better compared to the pre-pandemic revenue. That is beyond scary, I’ve had the same chef for fourteen years and every day we’re just gobsmacked,” said Echino.
With sales down, these restaurant owners share the same gratitude for government subsidies.
However, they say they can’t afford for them to run out yet.
“We are extraordinarily thankful for it, but at this point we still need it because as long as people are being told to work from home, there is nobody in the office, nobody coming out from lunch,” said Tyler.
These slow times for catering businesses have also been passed on to staff, with not all workers being called back to work.
“We laid off 27 people in March of 2020, we brought a few back, we laid them all off again. Now we’re back to having 14 people on, most of them are part-time but we’re seeing an increase.”