CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - For Robert Shaw, the spring means it’s time to get into “burger-mode”.
The owner of Shaw Family Meats in Cardigan has been busy grinding beef for the past few weeks, as another edition of P.E.I. Burger Love hits Island restaurants on March 29.
Shaw said this is the time of year when everyone prepares for a busy month ahead.
“I sell a lot. It seems like every restaurant triples (its order). I’m grinding (beef) right now,” he said in a phone interview with The Guardian on March 23.
By “a lot” Shaw means during April, he will grind about 500 pounds of beef every day for the entire month, adding he supplies four restaurants with Burger Love beef.
Now in its eighth year, the burger event, which celebrates the Island’s beef industry, was the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada.
Restaurants Canada’s Luc Erjavec, vice-president for the Atlantic region, said since P.E.I. Burger Love’s inception in 2011, other places have joined the trend.
“It’s really catching on with different communities, be it a province, or a town, or a city,” he said, adding he lives in Halifax and participated in the city’s Burger Week this month.
“Every night the restaurants are completely full.”
Some of the other participating towns around the region include Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John, Truro and Bible Hill, and St. John’s.
Poll: How many Burger Love burgers will you eat?
Around the region - Locations around Atlantic Canada with burger-related events:
P.E.I.:
- The eighth annual P.E.I. Burger Love, March 29 to April 30, with more than 80 participating restaurants. Many restaurants involved donated part of the proceeds from sales to the provincial United Way, with last year’s event raising more than $60,000.
Nova Scotia:
- Halifax’s sixth annual Halifax Burger Week, March 22-28, with 125 participating restaurants. The fundraiser raised more than $70,000 last year for Feed Nova Scotia.
- Truro and Bible Hill’s Burger Week, Feb. 18-24, with eight participating restaurants. Two dollars from the sale of each burger was donated to the Truro Homeless Outreach Society.
New Brunswick:
- Fredericton’s YFC Burger Battle is running March 17 to April 7, with 21 participating restaurants.
- Moncton’s first burger event, Flip Burger Fest, took place Feb. 7-17 with 14 participating restaurants.
- Saint John holds its fourth annual Uptown Burger Week May 1-7, with more than 20 participating restaurants.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
- St. John’s celebrated its fourth annual Burger Battle from Feb. 1-28, 2018, with 20 participating restaurants.
“I think it’s win-win; the customer gets a fantastic burger in a unique way that’s probably a little different than a regular burger, and it’s driving sales in the restaurants during a traditionally slow time of year,” Erjavec said. “It’s a great driver of business.”
According to P.E.I. Burger Love’s website, during last year’s event more than 78,000 pounds of beef – or 184,397 burgers – was consumed during the 30-day period.
Related: Stephen Wilson and Mill River Experience win P.E.I. Burger Love 2017
Rinnie Bradley, executive director of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers, said that while the beef industry as a whole “wouldn’t see a huge increase” in the demand for beef as a result of Burger Love, some individual suppliers do.
“In terms of how much, it’s not significant enough that it would create much change in the industry,” she said. “They would have enough supply on hand and supply available that they could meet the demand for Burger Love.”
Michael Frizzell, owner of Mike’s Queen Street Meat Market in Charlottetown said he’s been preparing for burger month for the past couple of weeks, as he supplies meat for about 15 or so of the participating restaurants.
“Sometimes you can do a couple thousand pounds a day during Burger Love month,” he said, adding he’s not sure exactly how much more beef he’d grind up each day. “It would be considerably higher.”
Frizzell said the event comes at a good time of year, as it tends to be slower for business.
“It takes away a bad month and makes it a good month,” he said. “After you get through March Break, everything’s slow and comes almost to a halt. Right after that everything takes off.”
The full list of 2018 restaurants and burgers will be available Thursday, March 29 on the P.E.I. Burger Love website.
