Statistics Canada is a font of information for the hospitality industry.  This past Friday they released their most recent Consumer Price Index report providing detail on the differences in product purchasing price between June and July of 2012 and the same time period in 2011.  While some inflationary pressure is always expected, the report tells us that “higher prices for the purchase of passenger vehicles, food purchased from restaurants, meat and electricity were major factors in the increase of the July Consumer Price Index (CPI).”

As a professional in foodservice, changes is pricing need to be taken into consideration in order to maintain profitability.  While establishments providing delivery service may be affected by the cost of passenger vehicles, of more concern is the increase in the cost of meat, averaging 5.3% across Canada, and the cost of cereal products (grain-based goods) up 3.7%.  By contrast, the price of restaurant meals has only increased by 2.4%. 

Other factors to watch include electricity, which “increased 3.7% year over year in July, after a 5.9% rise the month before”.  On the plus side, natural gas prices dropped by 15.2% and “prices for fresh vegetables declined for the fifth consecutive month”.

This comes just over two weeks after the same agency released their reports on "Food Services And Drinking Places, May 2012” and “Traveller Accommodation Services Price Indexes, Second Quarter 2012.”

Takeaways from the Food Services report included a 1.1% increase in sales from April to 4.4 billion in May.  Higher sales were recorded in all segments of the market, restaurants, drinking places and special food services, coast to coast, ranging “from 0.1% in Prince Edward Island to 2.3% in Alberta.”

Review of the Traveller Accommodation report, versus the report from the same period last year, shows the billable room rate for hotels increasing a minimum average of 2.7%, over 4% in the business travelers sector.  That makes it the strongest quarter in the past year.

The statistics provided by our government analysts are worthwhile to review on an ongoing basis.  They give practical information on the state of our economy that can assist in planning for the future of our companies and of the hospitality industry.  For further details on these reports and to find other pertinent data, visit Statistics Canada’s website at www.statcan.gc.ca.