Restaurants and bars to be hit with Canada’s new alcohol tax hike

Amid the foodservice industry’s struggle to recover, the Canadian government is getting ready to introduce the largest alcohol tax hike in history. On April 1, the federal alcohol duty is set to go up 6.3 per cent. The yearly increase has always been considered a nuisance for the industry, as alcohol excise duties are imposed […]

St. Patrick’s Day menu ideas for your restaurant

By Mark Plumlee Everyone’s a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, which means that it’s the perfect time to create a specialty holiday menu inspired by the Emerald Isle! Irish beer and whiskey are a great start but don’t stop there. Be sure to add plenty of Irish and Irish-inspired dishes to round out your […]

Trend Watch: Meat-infused cocktails, pickled nuts, salal berries

By Katie Belflower In our latest edition of Trend Watch with Technomic, we are focusing on three current top menu trends across Canada, showcasing some of the restaurants that are creatively and successfully adding these items, flavours, or ingredients to their menus. Meat-infused cocktails Operators are featuring cocktails infused with meaty elements including marrow, fat, […]

2023’s top trends add flavour and colour to restaurant menus

Each year we see new colours, flavours and ingredients topping the menu trends list, so what’s in store for 2023 menus? Experts predict everything from global influences to splashy colours to nostalgic favourites, and more. Try out some of these top 2023 trends at your restaurant to stay current, get your customers talking, and appeal […]

Canadian diners are ordering more items off the menu

According to Technomic’s latest report, the last quarter of 2022 showed diners are ordering more off the menu, even as menu prices saw an increase of about six percent across the board. Only the kids’ menu category saw a decline in menu counts, finishing off the year with numbers down 2.2 percent overall. According to […]

Sweet-talk your customers with delicious holiday drinks

‘Tis the season for holiday drinks and LTOs. If your restaurant is looking for a way to boost guest cheques and stand out from the crowd, you can hit that sweet spot with a new roster of hot and cold beverages. The specialty coffee industry alone brings in more than $12 billion in annual sales […]

Top 5 books for restaurant owners

By Megan Prevost Many professional fields provide opportunities to grow through the pursuit of outside research and books. Taking a little time to read up on your work can pay back huge dividends in performance, but often this doesn’t ring true for fields where experience is king. Experience is the best teacher in many arenas, […]

Mixologists head to the kitchen for inspiration

What’s trending in the world of mixology? Crafting cocktails is a specialized skill set, combining creativity and practicality. These days, unconventional inclusions are topping the trends, as mixologists save SKUs and make the most of their available ingredients.   Technomic’s latest trend report shows that Canadian mixologists are bringing their cocktails into the kitchen, with […]

Beverage demand from consumers drives takeout and delivery menus

We’ve seen many changes to consumer preferences since the pandemic, and beverage demands are the latest addition to this list, driving a shift in restaurant delivery and takeout menus. With the growth of third-party takeout and delivery orders up 63 per cent from pre-pandemic days, this is an important market to consider. Both alcoholic and […]

Canada’s first sugar sweetened beverage tax introduced in Newfoundland and Labrador

In a move to try and decrease sugar consumption in Newfoundland and Labrador, the first sugar sweetened beverage tax in Canada has now been implemented by the provincial government. As promised in October 2021, a tax of 20 cents per litre now applies to all drinks with added sugars, on top of the existing provincial […]