Restaurants Canada Forecasts 4% Foodservice Growth In 2015

The oil and gas boom in western Canada and strong growth of social caterers will grow foodservice sales in Canada 4% in current dollars next year, according to Restaurants Canada. The growth would push sales to $59.8 billion next year. The association also expects foodservice sales growth to average 4% a year through 2018. In comparison, Technomic Inc. currently forecasts foodservice growth in the U.S. at 3.1% in nominal terms.

The oil and gas boom in Alberta is driving growth in the province, which is forecast to see sales rise 5%. Other provinces expected to experience above trend growth include Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. The association predicts a 5.3% gain for social caterers in 2015.

“As our industry continues to grow, so will our workforce,” said Restaurants Canada Pres. and CEO Garth Whyte. The group forecast labor growth of 21,000 next year.

Information on the Canadian foodservice industry can be found at restaurantscanada.org. “””