MTY Food Group, which can be found particularly behind restaurants like Mikes, Ben & Florentine, Bâton Rouge, or Tiki-Ming, saw a 30% decrease in the turnover of its brands located in Canada. During the fourth quarter, results emerged that were released on Thursday. Restrictions linked to the health crisis are forcing the company to revise its strategy regarding its locations in office towers and food showrooms.
It is clear that times are difficult to reclaim the country. According to data revealed by Statistics Canada, Thursday, restaurant sales fell by 28.2% in 2020 compared to 2019. Quebec was the province most affected, down 31.3%, followed by Ontario, with 31.1%.
MTY, for its part, is not immune from these declines. But in our southern neighbors, the group turnover has increased by 4%. “In the United States, with the exception of California and New York, the business is pretty much business as usual », MTY CEO Eric Lefevre says adding that there are many restrictions on this side of the border. “In Canada, a really important part of our income still comes from food fairs, office towers, or restaurants that offer table service. In Quebec, we think Ben & Florentine, Allô! Mon coco, Baton Rouge and Mikes, all of these restaurants are part-starved. Big of her income. ”
And remote work, which has become almost usual since the beginning of the crisis, forces the group to question the locations of its institutions and their meters. “We will definitely reassess all of this,” says Mr Lefebvre. The occupancy rate of buildings in city centers will decrease significantly. You have to adapt to that. Food fairs, at the moment, account for around 15% of our locations so they’re not a big part of our portfolio, but they’re still an important part. ”
“We have to review the economic model in terms of occupancy costs, especially rents that were very, very high,” he adds. Perhaps from now on, we will have to negotiate more closely with our donors, otherwise the economic model will not work. ”
Suburban and online sales
Long before the pandemic began, MTY was already dependent on the suburbs to establish its brands there. With almost deserted city centers and the popularity of local restaurants, this trend is set to increase. “Our growth did not come from the big urban centers, it came from the suburbs,” says the group leader. the work The proximity is really there, especially in a context where we’re going to have a lot of purchase orders. Rapidly increasing. So proximity will be important in the future. ”
With that in mind, we want to focus more on online sales. These also grew during 2020 for all organizations (Canada and the United States), reaching $ 636.4 million, or 19% of sales, compared to $ 199.2 million or 6% in 2019.
However, Eric Lefevre realizes that there is still a lot of work to be done in Canada. We have a lot of different technologies in our network. Of course, we have technology investments to make. If there’s one thing that disappointes us this year, it is about online sales in Canada, where we think we can do a better job. It assures us that we are working hard on This is something. There are a lot of projects underway to improve this. ”
In fact, Yuzu Sushi Restaurants, one of the brands that saw sales growth over the past year, also performed well in terms of online sales. “We have stores that have everything, like Yuzu, and online sales are on fire,” he says.
Part of the projects under study for MTY facilities is the most popular auto transport service and the ability for customers to order directly from their phones.
MTY power unit
Fourth-quarter revenue: 891.4 million, down 13% compared to the same period in 2019
Revenue in the fourth quarter: 127.2 million compared to 156.8 million in the previous fourth quarter.
– Number of establishments (November 30, 2020): 7,001 operating establishments, of which 113 are operated by the company, 6,867 are franchisees, and 21 joint enterprises.
Geographical distribution of establishments: the United States (55%), Canada (38%) and international (7%)
Infographic Press
Sales of the entire restaurant sector decline in Canada in 2020
Canada Total Decline: 28.2%
Quebec: down 31.3%
Ontario: down 31.1%
British Columbia: 25.4%
Alberta: 24.6%
Restricted service restaurants (without table service): 13.4% decrease in sales
Full-service restaurants: down 37.5%
Drinking places: 47.8% decrease
Source: Statistics Canada
Infographic Press
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