Atlantic Canadians’ Tipping Habits Have Changed During The Pandemic
MONCTON–While a recent survey from Narrative Research paints a picture of a generous tipping culture in Atlantic Canada, employees in Greater Moncton’s restaurant sector say tipping trends aren’t so clean-cut.
Tabitha Storey, manager of Cedar’s Pizza in Moncton, has not seen the generosity reflected in Narrative’s study. The study found that 42 percent of Atlantic Canadians starting to tip, or are tipping more, when ordering take-out because of the pandemic.
Storey said she’s found people are tipping less after pandemic-related economic impacts forced Cedar’s to raise food costs by 20 percent.
Before the increased costs of doing business during the pandemic punished Cedar’s, “we were doing great with tips,” she told Huddle.
“People were grateful we were open and willing to serve the community in the downtown area, but I mean, everyone is scrounging for money and wages didn’t go up. We find that when food costs don’t go up, people are more lenient with their tips,” she added.
A server at a downtown Moncton restaurant and a fast food restaurant in Riverview, both of whom spoke to Huddle on condition of anonymity, reported seeing no increase in tips since the pandemic.
According to Narrative’s research, six in ten Atlantic Canadians picking up take-out report they leave tips.
Narrative found that 42 percent of Atlantic Canadians either tipped more or started to tip on take-out orders because of the pandemic.
Narrative found that Nova Scotia had the highest number of respondents who changed their tipping habits on account of the pandemic–45 percent–while 44 percent of New Brunswickers claimed the pandemic made them tip more, or start to tip.
When asked about pandemic impacts on their spending, 58 percent of Atlantic Canadians reported they’ve always left tips and 30 percent said they’ve increased the amount they tip since the pandemic began.
Narrative’s numbers showed that 13 percent of Atlantic Canadian respondents who didn’t tip before the pandemic started leaving tips.
Across the Petitcodiac, at the Fox n Hound Neighbourhood Pub in Riverview, Curtis Strickland reported an experience more in-line with Narrative’s findings.
“Tips have absolutely, dramatically gone up at our restaurant. Most of our revenue comes through people’s bills paid by Visa or debit, so when you run a card you typically have a choice between 15, 20 and 25 percent tips. I’ve noticed that the 20 percent tip option is most popular,” said Strickland.
Strickland, the owner and general manager of Fox n Hound, said customers have become more supportive during of the pandemic.
“There was a revenue drop for sure, and we’re at just less than 50 percent of where we’re normally at, but our customers are coming in and helping a lot,” he added.
Another server working at a downtown Moncton bar who wished to remain anonymous said he’d seen a similar trend, noting tips spiked at his workplace in the days after New Brunswick emerged from Level-3 pandemic restrictions at the end of January.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].