TORONTO – Canada’s pizza fanatics could soon expect to pay less for a slice.
This week the Canadian Dairy Commission removed restaurant-class cheese from supply-management pricing, allowing restaurant owners to purchase mozzarella at a fraction of the current price.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Canadian Dairy Commission, Carole Cyr, told Global News. “It’s important because there’s such a demand for it.”
Last year the country produced over 110,000 kilograms of mozzarella, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. And most of it went into pizza.
“We buy about 2.5 billion dollars worth of mozza-cheese,” said president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, Garth Whyte. “And, at least 50 percent of that goes into pizza.”
Mario Sebastiano, owner of the family restaurant Super Mario’s Pizza in Port Colborn, told Global News he spends $230 per case on mozzarella alone.
“That’s $165,600 worth of cheese I spend in a year,” he said. “You want to be skimpy with it because it’s so expensive but you can’t, customers will notice.”
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Sebastiano’s pizza joint has been operating for over 35 years and the owner said he has yet to see a drop in pricing. In fact, he said he is skeptical if the announcement is just a cheesy ploy since costs have so far only gone up.
“You can ask any pizzeria owner and they’ll even tell you cheese went up 20 cents a kilo on April 1,” he said. “They don’t give a damn about us little guys.”
But if prices are shredded?
“If it’s a difference of a dime and nickel then big deal,” he said. “But if it’s more than that, that would be real nice because cheese is like gold to us.”
For over a decade now, since the government allowed makers of frozen pizzas to purchase cheese at a reduced cost, restaurants and pizza establishments alike have been demanding for fairer pricing.
“There’s clearly been an inequity between frozen pizza mozzarella and fresh mozzarella,” said Whyte. “Purchasers of frozen mozzarella have had a 30 per cent advantage in pricing and it’s the same cheese.”
He also said the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association isn’t cynical that prices will drop.
“We applaud the dairy community for coming forward with this because it’s such exciting news for our members,” he said. “It’s significant and we want to make sure dairy doesn’t fall off our menus.”
The only question left is whether costumers will also see a slice in costs when they purchase cheesy goods.
“The restaurant business is very competitive so it’s their call,” said Whyte. “How processors will distribute it to buyers and how pizzerias will discount it to eaters we really don’t know.”
Pizzeria owner Sebastiano said he hasn’t done the math yet.
“But, if it’s true I could use more cheese and support other businesses with the savings,” he said.
Restaurant and pizza joints should expect mozzarella prices to lower come June 1, when the ruling will take effect.
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