Edmonton restaurants forced to adapt to high food prices amid global supply chain disruption
Some Edmonton-area restaurants are feeling the effects the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the global supply chain.
As food prices rise, some restaurateurs are forced to pass those increases onto consumers.
"It affects us the same way it affects people at the grocery store," Chartier sous-chef Travis Golbeck told CTV News Edmonton. "We are seeing an increase in prices and we are seeing a decline in the availability of products."
The sous-chef for the Beaumont, Alta., French restaurant said over the last three years, the cost of flour has jumped 40 per cent and butter 12 per cent. The price of buckwheat has quadrupled in price this week alone.
"We use canola oil in our fryers, that’s a wonderful, beautiful Alberta product," he said. "Six months ago we were paying $33 for 20 litres and now we’re paying $55 for 20 litres in six months."
Over at Simply Supper, a frozen meal business in Edmonton, you'll find a similar story.
"Sometimes they send the price increases to me and I think they’re joking," owner Monita Chapman said. "It’s so unprecedented and so extreme that you just honestly don’t even believe it but it is true."
Chapman told CTV News Edmonton prices are the highest she's seen in 15 years.
"The supply chain just seems so disrupted that we can’t get our hands on the product that we need," she said. "It’s going up in some cases by $10 or $15 dollars for a case of something."
One expert says transportation costs, weather events and global staffing shortages are to blame.
"We are going to see some of that cost being carried on to us as consumers," said Heather Thomson from the Alberta School of Business.
Raising prices was something Chapman said she didn’t want to do, but felt she had no choice.
"For a family of four you’re going to see about $1 to $1.50 increase on our meals."
Meanwhile, Chartier has taken a slightly different approach by developing a new menu.
"Be really creative in the ingredients that we’re using and to use simple ingredients but to change them in beautiful wonderful ways to make the food elevated to make it something you couldn’t get at home," said Golbeck.
Thomson said consumers can expect the trend of high commodity prices to continue for some time.
"I think this is something we’re going to be looking for well into the holiday season and into 2022."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
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.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
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.
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.
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.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.