BC Ferries' beloved buffet may be making a comeback, according to CEO Nicolas Jimenez.During an event with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, he hinted at a return, but said nothing could be confirmed at the moment.."Sunshine breakfast and the buffet, what is happening?" GVBT President Bridgitte Anderson asked. "Will they ever come back?Jimenez immediately dismissed the idea of the former returning to service, then explained the challenges associated with the latter."We've got these incredible spaces on our vessels that aren't being used," he said. "There are two challenges; one is staffing. The buffet model took a lot of people to staff, and it wasn't making money. Right now we need to focus all of our resources inside the company on making sure we're aligning to essential public service."The CEO said that so long as the corporation was experiencing financial difficulty, it needed to "spend every dollar as wisely and efficiently as possible," but added that after two years without the buffets, it was "looking at a different form of how we can do food service.""We're not ready to announce anything yet, but certainly know that those spaces need people," he concluded. "They're too amazing to let them be empty."BC Ferries made the decision to shut down the Pacific Buffet for good in 2023 after initially ceasing operations in 2020 due to COVID-19. It had been a staple of the journey from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay since 1979.The corporation has conducted a number of surveys asking people what they would like to see replace the buffet, and the majority of respondents made it clear they wanted a new dining amenity to occupy that space.
