St. John's restaurateur Jeremy Bonia joins Restaurants Canada board of directors

TORONTO, March 3, 2015 /CNW/ - Restaurants Canada welcomes Jeremy Bonia, sommelier/owner of Raymonds in St. John's, to its board of directors. He was elected yesterday at the association's annual general meeting in Toronto.

Bonia joins other industry leaders from across the country that serve on Restaurants Canada's volunteer board of directors.

Representing 30,000 businesses across the country – including restaurants, bars, caterers and other foodservice businesses – Restaurants Canada is one of Canada's largest trade associations. It helps to create a vibrant and successful restaurant industry by being a voice to government, source of industry research, and partner for money-saving member programs.

Canada's restaurant industry contributes $68 billion annually to the economy, serves 18 million customers daily, and is one of the country's largest employers, providing career opportunities for 1.2 million Canadians. In Newfoundland and Labrador alone, the restaurant industry generates $1 billion in sales and employs 15,700 people.

About Jeremy Bonia:
As a native of Logy Bay, Bonia began his career in the restaurant industry at Bianca's, a fine dining restaurant in St. John's. After moving on to work at Atlantica restaurant in Portugal Cove, he partnered with Jeremy Charles to open Raymonds in St. John's in 2010. Together, they twice earned the title of Best New Restaurant from enRoute – an unprecedented feat.

As a Restaurants Canada member, Bonia has actively raised industry issues with Premier Paul Davis, Finance Minister Ross Wiseman and other government officials.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A high resolution photo of Jeremy Bonia is available here.

SOURCE Restaurants Canada

Prasanthi Vasanthakumar, Communications Specialist, 1-800-387-5649, ext. 4254. Email: [email protected].