Burnaby’s biggest restaurant owner has defied low expectations stemming from COVID-19 restrictions and doubled its profits.
Restaurant Brands International Inc., which runs Popeyes, as well as multiple Burger King and Tim Hortons locations in Burnaby – saw profits jump a whopping 37% in its second quarter despite many restrictions and a third wave of infections.
But it’s not quite celebrating just yet.
"The restaurant industry, like many other industries, is facing rising commodity costs and wage inflation," Restaurant Brands CEO José Cil said during a conference call with analysts.
"Staffing continues to be a challenge," he said. "While the situation is evolving daily, we're working closely with our franchisees to provide tools and share best practices, including recruiting and hiring initiatives, employee retention programs and technologies that simplify the hiring process."
Restaurant Brands chief corporate officer Duncan Fulton said labour shortages are emerging at the company’s restaurants globally, including in Canada.
In addition to a national hiring campaign set to launch in the coming weeks, he said the company is working with governments to shine a light on the urgent need for more labour, including access to temporary foreign workers.
“We’re seeing widespread labour shortages in the broader restaurant industry and Tim Hortons owners are working through that just like every other restaurant,” Fulton said in an interview. “A lot of our franchisees are working pretty long shifts themselves in the restaurants to work the drive-thrus, help customers and help fill (scheduling) holes.”
As for whether the restaurant will increase pay to attract more workers, he said franchisees currently offer competitive wages.
“From a wage rate point of view, it's a very competitive market out there,” Fulton said, noting that the same pool of labour available to Tim Hortons could also work for other restaurants and retailers, keeping wages competitive.
Meanwhile, as for the rising cost of goods like coffee beans, Restaurant Brands has “advanced procurement and sourcing mechanisms” that help smooth out the ups and downs of the commodity market, he said.
“We have a pretty advanced system of sourcing coffee beans,” Fulton said. “As we see forward prices for coffee moving up and down, it gives our team the ability to adjust and smooth out some of the impacts.”
For now, Tim Hortons isn’t planning any across-the-board menu price increases to address cost pressures.
“There's nothing widescale planned at this point,” Fulton said. “There's always kind of market-by-market micro adjustments that are in keeping with our competitors.”
- With files from the Canadian Press
