Mississauga, February 23, 2021 – The Mississauga News proudly welcomes Sysco as a presenting sponsor of the Taste of Mississauga program, designed to help the struggling restaurant industry. It is with great excitement that we also announce that Tourism Mississauga is partnering with this important community endeavour. This one-of-a-kind program will be supported by a multimedia campaign valued at over $250,000, provided by The Mississauga News and Metroland Media Group. Taste of Mississauga will create awareness and excitement about the culinary options available in Peel Region and encourage residents to support their local restaurants through takeout, delivery, and in accordance with current COVID regulations. The program will run from March 15 to May 10.
“This last year has been extremely difficult year for the foodservice industry,” says Tim Cameron, Sysco Regional President Ontario South Region. “Supporting Taste of Mississauga is a great way for our local Mississauga team to show our support of local restaurants and give back to the community. When we get the opportunity to help restaurants and the community in our own backyard, this makes the endeavor even more important. We hope everyone will come out and safely enjoy the event and enjoy an incredible meal.”
To get a picture of how the pandemic has adversely affected the restaurant industry, look no further than the Restaurants Canada website. The not-for-profit foodservice association represents 30,000 members across Canada and estimates that 800,000 foodservice jobs have been lost nationwide due to COVID-19, with more than 300,000 industry jobs lost in Ontario including 14,000 jobs lost in Peel Region. A report in December 2020 states: “Since March 2020, 10,000 restaurants have closed across Canada and almost 50 per cent expect to permanently close if conditions don’t improve.” (www.restaurants- canada.org)
“Tourism Mississauga is very proud to be a part of this year’s Taste of Mississauga, in collaboration with Metroland. Not only is this program a great way to show our support within the community, it also offers our residents an opportunity to celebrate and enjoy the flavours of our local restaurants”, said Tej Kainth, Manager of Tourism Mississauga. “We are com- mitted to supporting and promoting all our local restaurants and businesses, and we encourage residents and visitors alike to join the movement and support everything Mississauga Made.”
“This unique program was developed to create, support and increase the profile of local restaurants dealing with COVID challenges,” says Gautam Sharma, Director of Advertising for The Mississauga News. “This is the largest food program of its kind in the City of Mississauga which will highlight, showcase and celebrate our rich and diverse culinary choices through the creation of the www.tasteofmississauga.com website which will feature restaurants, chef profiles, special menu offerings and more. The multimedia campaign valued at a quarter of a million dollars will help create awareness for over 2,000 Mississauga restaurants by showcasing them to over 1.2 million readers in Peel Region. The goal is to encourage residents to explore, experience and enjoy our local dining options. Restaurants will gain from the awareness created in the community while restaurant goers get to enjoy great food and the satisfaction of supporting a local business.”
About Sysco
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare, and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With more than 57,000 associates, the company operates 326 distribution facilities worldwide and serves more than 625,000 customer locations. For fiscal 2020 that ended June 27, 2020, the company generated sales of more than $52 billion. For more information about Sysco’s busi- ness in Canada, please visit www.sysco.ca. Information about our CSR program, including Sysco’s 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, can be found at www.sysco.com/csr2020report.
About Tourism Mississauga
Tourism Mississauga, is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for the City of Mississauga. The organi- zation is industry-led and responsible for developing a tourism strategy and leading tourism marketing and development efforts for a destination. The organization’s mandate of implementing the City of Mississauga’s Tourism Master Plan Tourism Mississauga is committed to promoting local businesses and everything the city has to offer. The Mississauga Made Marketplace is proudly powered by Tourism Mississauga, in support of local products, businesses, restaurants, artists, stories, activities and experiences available within our community. To join the movement to support local visit www.mississaugamade.ca, or check out www.visitmississauga.ca for more local listings.
About The Mississauga News
Your community news organization and source for the latest daily breaking news stories, life, opinion, voices from the community, events and more, serving 1.2 million readers in Peel Region. Dedicated and privileged to serve and support our local communities through various events and programs as part of the TorStar group of community newspapers. www.mississauga.com
Media Contacts:
The Mississauga News
Brenda Hazell, 905 515.6639, [email protected]
Sysco Ontario South Business Resources Team, [email protected]
