Local restaurants are working to overcome challenges related to increased demand and delays from supply chains. (Elliott Knopp/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Elliott Knopp

Food Supply Chains

Meadow Lake restaurants hit hard by supply chain woes

Dec 22, 2021 | 6:18 PM

Issues with acquiring products from markets outside of Saskatchewan continue to present problems to businesses at home.

Restaurants in Meadow Lake are unsurprisingly feeling the effects of recent supply chain developments abroad and in B.C. With shipping delays consistently present and inflated costs across the board, business owners are taking drastic measures to keep their doors open and customers satisfied.

In an interview with meadowlakeNOW, Bao Ho, manager of Saigon House, said the current landscape has been affected so much that he’s had to resort to taking many matters into his own hands.

Those are Ho’s words describing his almost bi-weekly routine of travelling to Edmonton to gather ingredients and other items necessary to fulfill the demand from his customers in Meadow Lake.

“Every two to three weeks, we leave really early on Sunday morning and get home at like one or two [in the morning] the next day.”

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Ho has turned to other sources for many items on his menu. Regardless of where he buys his products, he said the costs have grown significantly since he opened his doors in May this year.

“Everything just went up sky high,” he said. “Everything is almost triple [the cost].”

To further demonstrate the problems he faces running his business with these challenges, Ho explained that a box of broccoli used to cost around $55. Now, that same box is sold for almost $100.

The price hike is even higher with products like meat and dairy.

Richard with Sandi’s Poutinerie said the meat products for his business are so high now, acquiring them has started to feel like a contest against other businesses.

“When things became available, the price reflected it. It was almost like you were bidding on the supplies, and there wasn’t much,” he said.

“We couldn’t hit the button fast enough. The second would come in, you had to secure your order right now.”

An item of great concern for the local business is pineapple. The pizza topping needs to be prepared differently than a normal pineapple you can buy at a store, along with the pieces being cut differently.

Richard said he only has about a weeks worth of pineapple in stock, and he may be forced to make a tough call on what he offers his customers in the near future.

“If they don’t resolve the issues with the pineapple, pizzas with pineapple no longer exist.”

He stated he has also resorted to travelling to further cities for products as cutting out the ‘middle man’ helps his business acquire products much faster than they have been from suppliers.

Richard mentioned while there are still some items available through his contracted suppliers he could use, the quality is not up to his standard or other businesses standards. He said he’s made the decision to not sacrifice quality or his businesses reputation to make ends meet.

“We’d rather close our doors than bring in a mediocre quality ingredient because we can’t get our ingredients,” he said.

“The mediocre ingredients seem to be readily available at all times. But that’s because most establishments like ours don’t want to deal with that.”

He added with all options on the table to stay operational, the business has started taking advantage of rare sales, sometimes purchasing excessive quantities of items to eliminate costs down the road.

“They had a sale that was basically 50 per cent off of the highest quality pizza liners, so we ordered four years worth,” he said.

“That helps offset the rising costs if things keep going the way they’re going.”

Speaking for all local restaurant owners in the community, Bao Ho said the sacrifices are necessary in order to remain operational.

“We have to try to stay open as much as we can. We have no choice if we want to keep pace and stay running.”

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elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp