A pastry chef with Prime 360 restaurant prepares desserts for an upcoming Christmas party.
Although the end of the year is usually the season when Christmas parties are in full swing, tough economic times have taken a bite out of business for some local caterers.
James Canoy, general manager of Carmello’s on Cooper, says he has seen a significant decrease in business in his restaurant’s catering service this holiday season.
Canoy says holiday party bookings in the restaurant’s dining room have declined and the catering portion of his business has been hit the hardest.
It’s down 35 to 40 per cent from last year, he says.
For many companies Christmas parties are an annual event, but this year some seem to be scaling back on the festivities.
This has led to a drop in business for some venues that host or cater these parties.
Canoy blames the current economic situation for the damper on business.
“A lot of different companies are sort of afraid of what the future is holding,” he says.
Some are now opting to have potlucks instead of catering so they don’t have to pay the $25 and $30 a head, Canoy says.
“It’s minimizing the cost for the companies themselves,” he says.
Canoy says some companies have also changed their party practices to curb drinking and driving.
“As opposed to having the big, lavish dinners, they’re having more of an afternoon get-together in the office where there’s less drinking involved,” he says.
However, several blocks over from Carmello’s, Prinzo Fine Catering hasn’t experienced a decrease in the number of parties in the fourth quarter.
Still, Tony Prinzo, co-owner of the catering company, says he has noticed that clients have been asking more questions about prices lately.
He says the change is due to customers having less money to spend .
Prinzo says the bottom line is that not many people are able to spend a lot on catering anymore.
When the media talks about the economy, people restrain their spending because they don’t know what will happen in the future, he says.
In response to growing budget concerns, Prinzo says he tries to be flexible and accommodate customers by creating a menu based on their budget and what they want to achieve.
For the Holiday Inn, the number of companies having Christmas parties in the hotel’s banquet rooms hasn’t really changed from last year, says catering manager Lindsay Silkstone.
She says many are repeat clients who return because of the service they receive.
One Centretown restaurant has even seen an increase in business from last year.
Prime 360, a restaurant and catering service, has seen a 12 per cent increase in the number of people coming into the restaurant for Christmas parties and a 20 per cent increase in its catering business, says general manager John Kavanagh.
“More people are looking for parties than ever before,” he says.
Recently, the Bank of Canada held a 55-person Christmas party at Prime 360, Kavanagh says.
“Business just keeps getting better,” he says.
“I can’t believe that we’re supposed to be in some kind of a downturn because it certainly hasn’t affected us.”
Kavanagh says he believes Ottawa’s government base makes it “pretty recession proof” so restaurants and catering companies won’t feel the same impact here as those in other Canadian cities.
Kavanagh says he’s unsure of whether the downturn in the economy is “overblown” or if it’s just happening in certain sectors, such as the auto industry along the Oshawa, Toronto, Windsor corridor.
“But certainly here, we haven’t felt it,” he says.