Despite the announcement of the price reduction of several products at St-Hubert, other chicken restaurant chains do not intend to follow the same trend.
“We have no intention of following them at all because we are already cheaper than them,” says Peter Mammas of Foodtastic, owner of the Au Coq, Benny and Fusée chains. In recent years, we have resisted the idea of imposing big increases on our customers while others have decided to do so.”
• Also read: St-Hubert adjusts its prices to offer more affordable meals
Without having precise figures, St-Hubert has had a marked drop in traffic in its dining rooms in the last year. Foodtastic experienced a similar scenario in its restaurants. His big boss, however, avoided pressing the panic button when inflation was hurting Quebec families.
“Consumers always look at quality and prices,” adds Mr. Mammas. They want to get value for their money. We put all our energy into that.”
Archive photo
Last year, due to skyrocketing operating costs, Mr. Mammas and his team had no choice but to increase prices by 4% in order to weather the storm.
Same story
Like its competitors, the Scores chain did not wait for St-Hubert to take significant action to try to bring customers back to its dining rooms.
Michel Lamontagne, senior vice-president of the Scores brand which is owned by MTY.
Photo provided by Michel Lamontagne
“What is announced by St-Hubert does not change our plan,” underlines Michel Lamontagne, senior vice-president of the Scores channel. Our shift in pricing began on February 28.
“We had the reputation of being an affordable restaurant and we wanted to rediscover this label while bringing innovation. We managed to stop the bleeding.”
The new St-Hubert prices and the competition
Chicken noodle soup
- Former St-Hubert price: $6.95
- New St-Hubert price: $5.75 (-17.3%)
- Benny: $5.75
- Scoring: $4.50
Chicken wings
- Former St-Hubert price: $12.25
- New St-Hubert price: $11.50 (-6.1%)
- Benny: $11.50
- Scoring: $11.95
Cheese sticks (8)
- Former St-Hubert price: $14.50
- New St-Hubert price: $14.00 (-3.4%)
- Benny: $13 (for 10)
- Scores: $13.45
Nachos
- Former St-Hubert price: $19.95
- New St-Hubert price: $17.95 (-10%)
- Benny: not offered
- Scoring: $16.95
Caesar salad starter
- Former St-Hubert price: $8.50
- New St-Hubert price: $7.50 (-11.8%)
- Benny: $7.00
- Scores: $6.95 (salad bar)
St-Hubert in a few figures
- Founded in 1951
- Number of restaurants: 124 in three provinces including Quebec
- Head office: Boisbriand
- Employees: 6000