6 Strategies for Restaurants to Thrive During Inflationary Periods

As a restaurant owner, you may be feeling the pressure of inflationary periods.

1. Monitor Your Food Costs: One of the biggest expenses for restaurants is food. During inflationary periods, the cost of ingredients can skyrocket, which can seriously impact your bottom line. It’s important to regularly review your food costs and make adjustments as needed. This might mean finding new suppliers or sourcing ingredients locally to cut down on transportation costs. You can also consider adjusting your menu prices to reflect the increased costs of your ingredients.
2. Focus on Efficiency: Another way to improve your business during inflationary periods is to focus on efficiency. Look for ways to streamline your operations and reduce waste. This might mean investing in new equipment or technology that can help you cook faster and more efficiently. It could also mean rethinking your menu to focus on dishes that are easier to prepare and require less prep time.
3. Offer Special Deals: During inflationary periods, consumers are often more price-sensitive. Offering special deals or promotions can help attract customers and boost sales. For example, you might offer a “happy hour” promotion with discounted drinks or appetizers during off-peak hours. You could also create a “family meal” deal that offers a discounted price on a larger meal for families or groups.
4. Prioritize Customer Service: Inflationary periods can be stressful for everyone, including your customers. It’s important to prioritize customer service and ensure that your guests feel valued and appreciated. This might mean training your staff to be more attentive and responsive to customer needs or investing in technology that can help you provide faster and more personalized service.
5. Consider Alternative Revenue Streams: Finally, during inflationary periods, it’s important to think creatively about alternative revenue streams. This might mean offering catering services or partnering with local businesses to offer packaged meals or meal kits. You could also consider expanding your delivery or takeout options to reach more customers who may be hesitant to dine in.
6. Buy Canadian-Made Products: Supporting local Canadian suppliers can help restaurants navigate inflationary pressures more effectively. Purchasing Canadian-made products reduces reliance on international supply chains, which are often affected by rising costs and delays. Locally sourced ingredients not only ensure fresher, higher-quality food but also contribute to the local economy. Additionally, marketing your restaurant as one that prioritizes Canadian products can attract customers who are passionate about supporting homegrown businesses.

In conclusion, while inflationary periods can be challenging for restaurant owners, there are several strategies you can implement to improve your business. By monitoring your food costs, focusing on efficiency, offering special deals, prioritizing customer service, and considering alternative revenue streams, you can position your restaurant for success during these challenging times. Remember, with a little creativity and hard work, you can weather any economic storm and continue to deliver high-quality food and service to your loyal customers.

Ways to Make the Dining Experience Extra Special

Going to a restaurant with family and friends is a favourite experience for many people, but with the economy as it is, there are far fewer people eating out impulsively or planning get-togethers as often.

In order to encourage customers to eat at your restaurant, consider the following:

1. Train your greeters to welcome customers sincerely and enthusiastically. Even if they’re extremely busy, looking up, smiling, and mentioning that they’ll be right with the customer will go a long way. Customers don’t want to feel as if they’re being ignored.
2. Attentive, personable wait staff can make all the difference. Even if they must cover several tables, a smile, a kind word, and accurately filling the customer’s order will increase the likelihood that the customer will return and recommend your restaurant to others.
3. Asking whether customers are celebrating a special occasion—and being sensitive to the guest(s) of honour’s preferences—is a nice touch. Offering the choice between two free desserts for the individual(s) will set your establishment apart
4. Food presentation is important to several of your customers—whether your restaurant serves economical offerings or more lavish ones.
5. Creating at least one signature dish with a twist that your restaurant does extremely well make an impression on your customers, and the word will spread.
6. If you serve a complementary appetizer, consider alternatives to a breadbasket.
7. If you do serve a complementary bread product, consider adding a gluten friendly option to the menu. There is an increasing number of people who are cutting back on their gluten intake.
8. Whether your restaurant is casual or more formal, cleanliness is important to your customers. And don’t forget to tend to your washrooms regularly.
9. Do you still put salt and pepper on your tables? Replacing traditional dispensers with grinders that hold sea salt and others that hold peppercorns is just one special touch customers will notice.

These are only a few of the many things you can do to make your customers’ dining experience extra special.

Ask yourself what makes a dining experience stand out to you, and then, seek to provide that experience for your customers.

Do locals tell their friends and family members, “You definitely have to eat here”?

The chains and franchises may have big marketing budgets and instantly recognizable brands, but many people prefer—and are fiercely loyal to—the unique, small restaurants, bars, and coffee shops in their communities. 

Here are ten big ideas that don’t require a big budget:

Follow your personality

Does your establishment have a homey Mom and Pop vibe, or is it funky and casual? Is it green and clean or elegant and sophisticated? Up your recognition factor by making that personality a consistent part of your brand through your storefront, signage, décor, food styling, digital presence, and even the music you play.

Carve out your niche

Focus on your signature dishes. When people feel your restaurant is the place to get these menu items, it’s a powerful way to establish your presence.

Celebrate local specialties

Go beyond the usual Canadian dishes available across the country to celebrate your local or regional specialties, including craft beer and wine.

Source locally

Locally sourced ingredients are becoming important to an increasing number of customers.

• Be a local booster – Promote your local producers and suppliers. If you’re flipping pancakes in Trois-Rivières, be loud and proud about serving them with local maple syrup. Making burgers in Red Deer? Celebrate local Alberta beef. Consider flags on the menu or a chalkboard featuring suppliers.

Rock your digital presence

Regardless of its size, your independent diner or sports bar can have an attention-grabbing Instagram account and popular videos on TikTok. A multi-functional website enhances the guest experience from ordering takeout to making reservations.

Support your community

While sponsoring sports teams and donating financially to important causes may not be in your budget, there are alternatives (i.e.: hosting an event at your establishment). Focusing on the cause rather than your contribution will prevent you from appearing boastful.

Know your customers well

Being small gives you a unique advantage to build relationships with your regulars.

Get out into the community

Feature your specialties at local fairs and events. You’ll not only contribute to the success of the events but also entice new customers to visit your restaurant.

Create standout promotions

Unique promotions, especially ones with a local angle, draw people in. Go beyond the standard holiday promotions by selecting a few signature days each year and creating special offers. You may also want to consider partnering with local suppliers for cross-promotions.

Be consistent

It’s not a bad thing to keep things fresh and occasionally add new dishes to your menu, but don’t change for the sake of change. Customers appreciate the sense of coming home to their favourite dishes that is provided by staff they’ve come to know. 

Based on the post “Small restaurant, BIG presence—does size matter?” written by Marlene Cornelis.

Beef Insights

What’s Happening?

Beef remains a complicated market. Reduced production provided short-term support to wholesale prices, but the important question is whether those values hold as processing returns toward normal levels. The market is also becoming increasingly divided by cut.
Ribs and loins remain expensive as foodservice demand moves into the fall. Rib values typically strengthen further as holiday prime-rib demand approaches. This is not where operators should expect significant relief. Ground beef is different. Fat and lean trim values have recently weakened, including a particularly sharp decline in fresh 85% lean trim. That creates an opportunity for burger programs and other ground-beef applications.
Rounds, clods and other value-oriented cuts may also provide buying opportunities. These cuts become more useful operationally as menus transition toward roast beef, braised beef and other fall applications.
The longer-term beef story, however, has not changed: North American cattle supplies remain tight, so temporary corrections should be viewed as buying opportunities rather than evidence that inexpensive beef has returned. Check our chart for individual cut pricing trends.

What Can You Do?

Recent trim declines could materially improve burger costs.
Look at rounds and clods for roast beef, sandwiches, bowls and braised applications.
Be cautious with loin and rib purchases; premium middle meats remain expensive.

Pork Insights

What’s Happening?

Pork is the protein category operators should be paying particularly close attention to this month. The pork market has weakened considerably since summer. Recent cutout values have fallen approximately 20% below last year’s levels according to the broker information.
The underlying reason is relatively straightforward: supplies are comfortable while domestic and export demand have remained disappointing. Pork demand is weaker than normal and identifies increasing autumn supply, cautious consumer spending and softer exports as continuing downside risks.  Canadian production is not contracting either and is now3–4% above 2025.
Bellies have experienced one of the largest corrections, creating a much better bacon environment than operators faced earlier in the year. Ribs are also softening as grilling demand disappears.
Butts and picnics remain excellent candidates for fall comfort-food menus, while loin pricing has begun to firm somewhat as buyers secure forward coverage. Hams are another category worth watching: they have strengthened from depressed levels and should receive additional seasonal support as holiday buying develops. Check our chart for individual cut pricing trends.

What Can You Do?

Make pork a featured protein, not merely a substitute for beef.
Review bacon costs now following the correction in belly markets.
Use butts and picnics for pulled pork, carnitas and batch-cooked applications.

Poultry Insights

What’s Happening?

Chicken requires a distinctly Canadian perspective. Canadian chicken demand remains exceptionally strong despite historically high retail and wholesale prices. August Canadian production reached 131.4 million kg—the largest monthly production total on record and 4.6% above the previous year. Even with that record production, prices declined only modestly because demand remained strong.
Availability has nevertheless improved. Boneless breast is more readily available, wings are adequate, drums have loosened, while thighs supply is tighter. Breast prices have started their normal seasonal decline and wings moved lower through August. Canadian legs remain unusually expensive relative to historical averages.
The U.S. market is substantially softer. As of late September boneless breast and tenderloin pricing is declining while wings are flat, with analysts expecting generally balanced supply through year-end.
That doesn’t mean Canadian operators receive U.S. pricing. Supply management, quota availability, exchange rates and a Canadian dollar near 1.42 all limit the pass-through. Check our chart for individual cut pricing trends.

What Can You Do?

Requote breast and wing products as availability improves.
Don’t assume thighs are the economical alternative. Current leg pricing remains elevated.
Wings remain worth evaluating for hockey and football promotions.

Seafood Insights

What’s Happening?

Seafood is relatively stable entering October, but there are several useful opportunities for independent operators. Imported Black Tiger Shrimp is one of them. There is lower pricing reported across imported Black Tigers and whites. That continues the improvement we identified last month and makes shrimp increasingly interesting for operators who can tightly control portions.
Atlantic salmon is more mixed. After falling considerably from the extreme pricing experienced in previous years, salmon remains a more practical menu option than it was two years ago. Current markets vary by origin and specification, so operators should continue quoting fresh and frozen alternatives rather than assuming one salmon market. For traditional fish applications, pollock pricing is steady but supplies have tightened due to increased demand, while haddock pricing is also steady with constrained supply.
That makes specification flexibility increasingly important. Cod, haddock and pollock can all work in appropriate applications, but operators should compare delivered cost, portion size, yield and guest expectations rather than automatically purchasing the same species every month.

What Can You Do?

Requote Black Tiger Shrimp—the recent decline creates feature opportunities.
Portion shrimp by count to maintain consistent plate costs.
Continue comparing fresh versus frozen Atlantic salmon.

Produce Insights

What’s Happening?

The produce market is entering one of its more challenging transition periods. The clearest problem is asparagus. Production from imports remain well below demand so expect significantly higher pricing, size restrictions and tight supplies extending into early 2027.
Lettuce is another category to watch. Iceberg prices are escalating as yields decline, with green leaf and romaine also moving higher. This is important because lettuce is a high-volume ingredient with relatively little opportunity to recover sudden increases through menu pricing.
Broccoli is strengthening as tight supply and insect pressure reduce yields, while cauliflower remains elevated. Limes remain tight and quality is inconsistent following heat, humidity and rain. Small oranges also remain tight. There are, however, useful opportunities. Avocado stocks are relatively plentiful, grapes remain abundant, strawberries have softened as production improves, and celery is currently inexpensive with excellent availability.
The late-September reports also highlight potential weather disruption from Hurricane Polo for Mexican avocados and limes, with possible effects on cucumbers, squash and tomatoes depending on rainfall.

What Can You Do?

Monitor lettuce yields and salad food costs weekly.
Avoid over-ordering berries simply because pricing improves—shelf life remains critical.
Take advantage of avocado availability for burgers, sandwiches, bowls and Mexican-inspired features.

These questions don’t just apply to clothing, personal care products, and the latest bestsellers. They also apply to the foodservices industry. Being aware of applicable trends going into the new year will help restaurant owners make their customers’ experience so special that they will want to return often.

Below are what Technomic foresees as foodservice trends for 2023:

Financial Concerns

Because of current economic concerns, 58% of consumers are more cautious about eating out and 44% will no longer make impulse visits to a restaurant. Restaurant owners will want to keep this in mind when making decisions for the year ahead.

Source: Technomic 2023 Foodservice Trends Whitepaper

Social Highlight

While the above statistics are of concern, there are statistics from the third quarter of 2022 that are encouraging. 71% of those surveyed indicated they enjoyed the social aspect of eating out and 65% said it was one of their favourite activities to do with friends. Restauranteurs who make their customers’ experience especially enjoyable will increase the likelihood of family and friends continuing to gather at their establishments.

Source: Technomic 2023 Foodservice Trends Whitepaper

Beyond the Social Aspect

Customers also consider the following elements important to an enjoyable restaurant experience: the use of premium ingredients, the use of fresh ingredients, and appealing flavours. Gen Zers and Millennials in particular pointed out the importance of the following: knowledgeable staff that pays attention to the fundamentals and good value with quick, high-quality service.

How to spruce up your restaurant to energize your brand

The art of food plating – top tips to raise your plates to new heights

The Use of Preserved Foods

Research indicates there will be more preserved food on restaurant menus. Preservation methods will include pickling, fermenting, dehydrating, and freeze-drying. Stocking these foods when available will lessen supply chain issues, as they can be kept far longer than fresh ingredients. Restauranteurs will want to keep an eye on these trends in the coming months: fermented beverages other than kombucha (i.e.: the fermented sugarcane spirit cachaca and the Japanese fermented rice drink amazake) and global pickled or fermented condiments (i.e.: the Indonesian fermented kasundi sauce and the Indian pickled amba condiment).

Return to Physical Menus

While we rely on technology in virtually every aspect of life, a vast percentage of customers (82%) prefer a physical menu. More than half of restaurant-goers find the QR code menus lessen their dining experience. This is something restaurant owners will want to take into account when finalizing their 2023 budget.

7 restaurant menu tips for boosting profit

Menu engineering: beyond the math to digital restaurant menus

Rewarding Loyalty

Loyalty programs keep customers coming back. 41% of Gen Xers actually prefer to visit restaurant that offer such a program. This is a good time for restaurant owners to brainstorm what type of program they could implement if they don’t already have one in place.

Loyalty programs – Building guest retention one incentive at a time

Food Items from Down South—Way Down South

Canadian operators are looking for inspiration beyond the U.S. and Mexico. In particular, they are looking to food options from Central America and the South American Andean states. These are just three of the dishes with a southern flavour: quesadillas made with refried beans, cashew cheese, coconut crema, charred corn salsa, curtido, and sprouts, all served on flatbread; jerk cauliflower made from apple puree, wasakaka, and toasted coconut; and Honduran baleadas, flour tortillas with grilled flank steak or spiced sweet potato, scrambled eggs, refried beans, cotija cheese, avocado, and lime crema.

Skirt Steak Tacos

Mojo Pork Tacos with Pineapple and Pickled Jalapeno Salsa

Health-Consciousness

Restaurant owners will want to keep the following preference in mind: the desire for fresh offerings made from scratch, using locally sourced, preservative-free ingredients. Customers want their food to be “clean, natural, and real.” Many also want it to be low-calorie, low-fat, and low-salt.

So Much to Think About

Restaurant owners face many challenges for the year ahead. In summary, the experts at Technomics recommend going back to the basics, balancing the old with the new, and adding new and quirky styles and cuisines.