Manitoba grocers, restaurants preparing for Christmas onslaught of meal delivery

With large gatherings for the holidays not permitted this year, Manitobans are getting ready to celebrate with smaller groups – members of their households.

But that doesn’t mean the whole feast isn’t still being prepared. Grocers tell Global News they’re busier than ever.

“We’re preparing to have a lot more turkeys available, we’re getting a lot more orders this year than we’ve ever had,” said Munther Zeid, owner of Food Fare grocery stores.

Grocery stores are stocking a variety of sizes, smaller turkeys are being requested, but larger ones are still in demand.

“We are still getting the large turkey orders, people are still going to be cooking large turkeys and sending to their families,” Zeid said.

“But we are expecting a lot more people to have their own dinners in their own homes.”

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A change this year, however, has been seen in how families are planning for their meals, with more choosing to order in advance to make sure their meals are locked in before supply runs out.

“You can basically call us and place the size that you want, pick it up on the day that you want,” Zeid said. “That service has skyrocketed.”

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If you’re not looking to cook this year, there are some good local take-out options available as well. Numerous restaurants not normally open on Christmas or who don’t usually offer take-out dinners are doing so.

“We’re offering everything from our regular menus to family style feasts,” said Ray Louis, owner of The Gates on Roblin.

“Knowing that code-red restriction limits the size of most families, we’ve decided to do smaller feasts, down to even two meals.”

Louie noted requests for smaller feasts are in high demand this year.

“We’ve actually been inundated with requests, mainly for smaller meals since the end of November,” Louie said.