Sask. caterer seeing surge in business ahead of Step Two of reopening

This time last year, PickNic’s Catering manager Krista Fehr was wondering how much longer the company could stay in business.

Now, with the next phase of Saskatchewan’s reopening plan set to begin on Sunday, bookings and inquiries are coming from every direction as gathering restrictions ease up.

“It is very different from what it looked like last year,” Fehr said. “We were truly being devastated. We had to lay off the majority of our staff. Now, it looks like things are picking up.”

Fehr said many events that were previously confirmed are now calling back to increase numbers.

Step Two of the Re-Opening Roadmap will allow 150-person capacity at event facilities, casinos, bingo halls and theatres.

Up to 150 people can attend wedding and funeral receptions in public indoor spaces.

Private gatherings can include 15 people indoors, and 150 people outdoors. Public gatherings can include 150 people for both indoor and outdoor events.

With crowds making a comeback, so is the interest in catering services.

“For the most part, it’s weddings,” Fehr said of the recent uptick in business. “We’re seeing a lot more and it’s what really seems to be driving the gatherings.”

Some challenges are arising for companies looking to meet the sudden demand of crowds and gathering sizes.

“That’s putting pressure on making sure we have the employees in place,” said Jim Bence, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitalization Association.

“We’ve laid off a lot of people and what we found is that some of them took advantage of federal and provincial subsidies for retraining and now we’re going back into that pool.”

Fehr said some of the staff PickNic’s intended to rehire have moved on to other careers.

“It’s difficult to determine when do you rehire people. How busy are you going to be?” she said.

“It’s been an interesting process because most of our staff had been with us a very long time, but it looks like the work pool out there is pretty good.”

PickNic’s is quickly running out of available weekends as weddings, corporate events and other celebrations push the demand to pre-pandemic levels.

“A few months ago, we had no idea what the summer was going to look like,” Fehr said. “We do have some weekends where we can maybe squeeze in one or two more (weddings), but for the most part, it’s looking pretty good.”