Sales in Alberta’s food services and drinking places sector decreased 0.4 per cent in October to $790.1 million, according to Statistics Canada information released on Monday.
But the level of sales was still up 1.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
Nationally, sales in the food services and drinking places subsector decreased 0.3 per cent to $6.1 billion in October. Lower receipts were reported in full-service restaurants (-0.8 per cent) and special food services (-1.8 per cent), while limited-service restaurants (+0.4 per cent) and drinking places (+1.5 per cent) reported higher sales.
The federal agency said six provinces reported lower sales in October with the largest decreases in Ontario (-0.6 per cent), Alberta (-0.4 per cent), Manitoba (-0.9 per cent) and Saskatchewan (-1.0 per cent).
The largest sales increases were in Quebec (+0.5 per cent) and British Columbia (+0.1 per cent).
On an annual basis, national sales were up by 3.9 per cent.
Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 4.2 per cent year over year in October, while prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments rose 3.2 per cent.
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