OTTAWA, Oct. 20, 2014 /CNW/ - Growth in Western Canada and a booming contract catering industry will help push commercial foodservice sales to a record $59.8 billion next year, according to Restaurant Canada's annual Industry Forecast.
The record sales are up 4.0% from the estimated $57.5 billion that Restaurants Canada is predicting for all of 2014, and will translate into an additional 21,000 jobs across the country.
Contract caterers will be the breakout star that will lead all segments with an average annual sales growth of 5.3% per year between 2014 and 2018, according to the report. This is due to demand for remote foodservice, driven by the natural resources industries, as well as rising populations at colleges, universities and health care facilities.
Industry sales overall will grow an average of 4.0% per year between 2014 and 2018.
"As our industry continues to grow, so will our workforce. The signs point to an additional 21,000 jobs for Canadians in the coming year – from cooks and chefs to IT managers and digital marketers," says Garth Whyte, President and CEO of Restaurants Canada.
Regionally, Alberta will lead the country with the fastest-growing foodservice sales, seeing average annual growth of 5.1% between 2014 and 2018.
Restaurants Canada uses an econometric model to forecast commercial foodservice sales by using the Conference Board of Canada's forecasts of disposable income, real GDP, employment and population to predict sales across the restaurant and food services industry until 2018.
Restaurants Canada (formerly the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association) is a national association comprising 30,000 businesses in every segment of the foodservice industry, including restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and their suppliers. Through advocacy, research, and member programs and services, Restaurants Canada is dedicated to helping its members in every community grow and prosper.
Canada's restaurant industry directly employs more than 1.1 million Canadians, contributes $68 billion a year to the Canadian economy (including commercial and non-commercial foodservice), and serves more than 18 million customers every day.
Image with caption: "Growth in Commercial Foodservice Sales: 2015 (CNW Group/Restaurants Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20141020_C2710_PHOTO_EN_6842.jpg
SOURCE: Restaurants Canada
Media contact: Prasanthi Vasanthakumar, Communications Specialist 416-649-4254 or 1-800-387-5649, ext. 4254. Email: [email protected]
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