B.C. Ferries is discontinuing its all-you-can-eat buffet

B.C. Ferries announced they are officially shutting down theall-you-can-eat buffet on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route, and they are now looking for ideas for the buffet's replacement.

The Pacific Buffet has been closed sinceMarch 2020 due toCOVID 19-related health and safety regulations. The announcement confirms the buffet, which has been operating since 1979, will not return, with the transportation authority saying they are serving a small proportion of passengers while reporting losses.

In a statement, B.C. Ferries saidthey reported an annual loss of $1.2 million. They also cited higher food costs, fewer food suppliers, supply chain unreliability and new attitudes on food and safety.

"Price modelling found the buffet would continue to lose money even with a price hike of up to 30 per cent due to the increased costs of food and labour," it said in a statement.

"Not only was it the seven crew members per shift that we needed to operate the vessel for our customers, it was also the fact that we were actually losing about just over $1 million a year,"Deborah Marshall,B.C. Ferries executive director of public affairs, told CBC News.

B.C. Ferries also says the buffet attracted less than 10 per cent of passengers out of 4.87 million from April 2019 to February 2020.

The announcement drew some disappointed reactions online.

"We certainly appreciate their patronage and loyalty over the years," said Marshall."But we are looking for people's ideas on how to move forward."

Re-imagining the buffet space

In the meantime, the buffet space will serve as extra seating space over the summer travel season.

"That will help customers spread out through the vessel and they can go in there with their meals that they purchased in the cafeteria, or they can play a game of cards, play a board game, whatnot, and just enjoy that space," said Marshall.

Following the announcement, B.C. Ferries put out an online survey on how they could re-imagine the buffet space.

Marshall says they will collect customer feedback as theyplan to launch a new food offering this fall.

"We want to see if there are other ideas. Charcuterie plates, things like that, which customers might enjoy," he said. "That will help make the new space all that much better."

He said they previously explored turning the buffet space into a sports bar, an on-board casino, a wedding and private reception space, or a gym and spa service.

However, they said,none of those options were viable, citing reasons such as unfavourable customer feedback andinsufficient demand.