More than 2,000 people attended the Alberta Food and Beverage expo at exhibition Park in Lethbridge on Saturday.
It’s the first time the trade show has happened in nearly two and half years.
“(The event) is a great opportunity to meet people behind the business and meet them face to face and see who’s operating these amazing businesses in our town,” owner and operator Chris Meilleur said.
With COVID-19 restrictions constantly changing, restaurant owners were forced to be flexible and intermittently shut down.
“COVID-19 was probably the hardest two years of our life,” said Jeff Gliege, owner of Firestone Restaurant.
“It hurt. It really hurt. We were just doing everything we could to just stay open.”
He’s thankful for his staff for pivoting with restrictions.
Food delivery was a huge market during the pandemic as people either could not or would not leave their homes to get a meal, but now that restrictions have eased, more people are starting to dine out again.
“Our restaurant is busier than ever,” said Gliege. “The community has been great to us. They’ve always supported us for the last 11 years, and we’re very grateful.”
Andrew Volstad, the owner of On Premise Agency LTD., says it’s vital for in-person trade shows to happen.
“We have a little saying: ‘It’s liquid to lips,'” said Volstad. “If people can’t taste your products, it’s rare that they’re willing to risk their money, which we don’t have a lot of right now, on a 26 or 27 bottle. But if they’ve tasted it and they know it, they’re more likely to grab it and make it their regular alcohol.”
While many businesses were forced to shut their doors permanently due to COVID-19, one new restaurant will soon be open.
Jeff Chisholm and Darren Weekes, owners of Blanco Cantina, are set to start building their new Mexican-style taco and tequila bar to open in downtown Lethbridge in fall 2022.
“There’s nothing like it downtown, so we’re just so enthusiastic about it,” said Weekes.
“We can’t wait!” said Chisholm. “It’s a long process and times have been interesting across the world lately, but we’re excited to share some fun times with people and get things back to normal.”