Food and beverage industry

Dining out has always been a popular pastime for Canadians. In 2002, food services and drinking places employed some 765,000 people.

Nevertheless, the purveyors of food and beverages had difficulty holding their own during the 1990s. Grocery stores and other retail outlets now sell ready-to-eat items, making it possible for us to purchase convenience foods and 'dine out' at home.

In 2001, frozen, pre-cooked dinners and baked goods accounted for 31 cents of every dollar spent on ‘other foods, materials and food preparations’. That compares with 26 cents in 1996.

Canadian households spent $124 a week on food in 2001, a 10.3% increase from 1996. Across Canada, in 2001, weekly food spending ranged from $109 on average in the Atlantic provinces to $132 in British Columbia.

Of every dollar spent on food, 30 cents went to restaurant meals in 2001, up from 28 cents five years earlier. In 1982, restaurant spending accounted for 25 cents out of every dollar spent on food. British Columbia’s households spent 33 cents of every food dollar dining out, whereas those in the Atlantic provinces allocated 25 cents of every food dollar to restaurant food. Average household spending on alcoholic beverages in licensed premises was $509 in 2002, a 19% increase from 1997.