Manitoba restaurants launch Between the Buns

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This article was published 16/08/2024 (456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local group may take a bite out of Le Burger Week this year.

For more than a decade, the event has drawn customers to restaurants for extravagant, limited edition burgers. Recently, however, Manitoba eateries have considered the event’s support lacking, according to the Manitoba Restaurants and Foodservices Association.

Enter Between The Buns.

More than 100 Manitoba restaurants are participating. Each will offer a protein between bread — some sort of burger, sandwich or hotdog.

“This is what was asked for,” said Shaun Jeffrey, the MRFA’s executive director.

The association consulted its membership over the past year while building the program, Jeffrey said.

Between The Buns will run Sept. 1 through Sept. 8, the same time as Le Burger Week’s national affair — something that “wasn’t necessarily intentional,” Jeffrey stated. Both events will occur in Manitoba this September.

At least six Smitty’s locations are among those to jump from Le Burger Week to Between The Buns. The focus on local restaurants and keeping money generated from the week within Manitoba contributed to the decision, said marketing director Jessica Saprowich-McGregor.

“With Le Burger Week, we don’t get as much recognition, just because it is so widespread across Canada,” she shared.

Online promotions of Manitoba restaurants had seemingly “taken a backseat” to other provinces’ establishments, Saprowich-McGregor continued. Online publicity is important, she added — that’s where the customers are.

It’s what, in part, restaurants pay for when signing up for such events.

Montreal-based People Mover Tech runs Le Burger Week. It didn’t respond to questions by print deadline.

Last year, 183 Winnipeg companies participated in Le Burger Week. It was a lot to compete with, Saprowich-McGregor relayed. She applauded Between The Buns, which capped the number of Winnipeg restaurants at 100. A handful of rural players are joining.

“We really drive the bus on these types of theme weeks here in Manitoba,” Jeffrey said of participation.

He echoed Saprowich-McGregor, highlighting the importance of advertising. It comes as restaurants grapple with higher operating costs, pandemic-era debt and consumers spending less money.

The MRFA plans to double down on advertising, Jeffrey said. Its campaign will cover five radio stations and involve influencers.

It’s also promoting customer prizes. People who vote on Between The Buns’ website will be entered for a “date night for a year” package of 12 $100 gift cards.

Donating $25 or more to The Dream Factory will triple the user’s ballot submission.

“All the money stays here in Manitoba,” Jeffrey touted. “We’re really trying to bring back the excitement of the theme week again.”

Excitement has lessened since the COVID-19 pandemic, he added. He said he wasn’t sure how much money or customers Between The Buns would attract.

Little Bones Wings signed up for both Le Burger Week and Between The Buns. It’s the company’s first year participating with its chicken burger.

Having both event options simultaneously provides “a bigger splash” to a wider audience — a great thing, especially given the economy, stressed David MacKay, the Transcona eatery’s operating partner.

“We don’t want to complain,” he said of the industry. “But it has been absolute hell on earth to run a restaurant and stay profitable.”

Dine-in visitation has now surpassed takeout orders at Little Bones — a welcome return, MacKay described.

He’s clocked restaurant closures as owners lose money and face rising costs. Repayment of pandemic-era loans has increased the burden for some, he relayed.

Meanwhile, real spending at restaurants was weak in July, a recent RBC Economics report found.

Events like Between The Buns provide “a chance for us to shine, do what we do best,” MacKay said.

“These events bring us exactly what we need, which is people.”

MacKay considers some of the offerings this September “mind-blowing.”

Little Bones Wings’ chicken sandwich, which is filled with cheese and spice, has a height of about seven inches, by MacKay’s estimation.

Between The Buns is the first of several themed food weeks the MRFA will host, Jeffrey hinted. He’s planning the next one for November.

MRFA members pay $250 and a $100 gift card to enter Between The Buns; non-members provide the gift card and $350. Rural applications are open until Monday.

The Dream Factory receives $25 from each restaurant registration and all proceeds from Between The Bun shirts that restaurants purchase, alongside customer donations.

Chelsea Walker, The Dream Factory’s community giving manager, said the non-profit is “over the moon” with the set-up.

The MRFA has partnered on Between The Buns with Taco Week organizer Bryan Salvador.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com