Quebec gastronomy has the wind in its sails. Not only are local restaurants driven by a dynamic new generation of women and people of color, but they are also among the best promoters of local products. Unsurprisingly, their vitality remains compromised by the labor shortage, exacerbated since the pandemic.
These are the conclusions of a new study conducted by the collective La table ronde, which brings together nearly a hundred entrepreneurs from the Quebec gastronomy community. Among them, some of the most illustrious chefs in the province, including Normand Laprise, Daniel Vézina and Colombe St-Pierre. Their Statistical portrait of gourmet restaurants in Quebec was unveiled on Sunday afternoon, in the presence of Ministers Pierre Fitzgibbon and Caroline Proulx.
“The preliminary results of the study that we are unveiling today confirm the strategic importance of the gastronomy sector for the development of Quebec, both in terms of the international influence of the national capital and the metropolis and for the attractiveness and the dynamism of the regions,” said Félix-Antoine Joli-Coeur, secretary general of La table ronde, in a press release.
Promoting foods from Quebec
According to the study conducted among 65 member restaurants of La table ronde by the firm IdéesFx, two-thirds of their menus are made up of foods from Quebec, compared to one-third among the plates of the general public in Quebec. The round table also reports that 15% of the wines sold by its members are from Quebec, compared to a meager 0.35% at the SAQ.
This is why the collective also boasts of the “strong media presence” of its members, which allows them to “represent Quebec’s culinary culture and the major social currents”. The study therefore underlines “the structuring influence with the population” that certain chiefs can have. She cites as an example Normand Laprise, owner of Toqué!, who would have “joined the movement demanding better supervision of food waste”.
In addition, The Round Table believes that “gastronomy is currently experiencing a renaissance thanks to the increased role of young people, women and racialized people”. In the report, we learn that 31% of chefs in the region are women, that 16% of all kitchen staff are racialized (compared to 16.8% in the Quebec population, qualifying the kitchen teams as “representative” ) and that 55% of restaurant owners opened a business in the past five years, with the majority under the age of 35.
All these elements have contributed to the success of the members of La table ronde, supports the collective. The latter claims to inject $40 million annually into the Quebec fine food market and generate tourism revenues of $74 million.
Labor shortage
It is well known, however, Quebec gastronomy suffers from a significant lack of manpower which is getting worse over the years, as are several sectors of the tourism industry here. Thus, 44% of the restaurateurs surveyed notably had to reduce their opening hours “due to the shortage of manpower”, supports the report.
The round table therefore calls on the government to contribute to “modifying” the business model of restaurants, “since the fixed costs remain the same, despite a reduction in the potential clientele”. The collective also pleads for increased training of workers in the environment, deploring that 59% of service staff and 54% of kitchen staff are “untrained”.
Sunday’s gathering was the second in the history of the collective, which last year benefited from financial assistance from Quebec of $900,000 to support the realization of its project valued at $1.43 million over two years. . “With the objective of consolidating the ecosystem of production and distribution of fine local products, the project of the Quebec gastronomy collective has the potential to further promote local producers and products, in addition to contributing to the economic vitality of all of Quebec,” declared the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon.