The café that was exemplary, sold, the new owner changes the menu, brings in a few kids to serve, and then wonders why six months later they are out of business.
As the hospitality people yet again told their tale of woe, and do not get me wrong, times have been tight and many an outlet has struggled, but as the new numbers got rolled out for the obligatory headline, it is probably time to get a bit honest about a sector that at times is its own worst enemy.
In the past 12 months, 2,564 hospitality outlets have closed. That’s an increase of 19%. As a stat it's miserable.
But ask yourself this: are all the cafes gone? No.
So is it possible we were over-cafe'd?
Is part of the problem with hospitality the fact anyone can join? You simply write a cheque, put an apron on, and you are in the hospitality game.
Do you know what you are doing? Are you interested in excelling or are you looking for an easy job and an easy job for your family?
Are you providing something new, or better, or different, or just adding to the collection of people who pedal paninis and bowls of cappuccino?
We talk a lot about the two step, or two stage, economy. Normally it's rural vs urban, Auckland vs Queenstown.
But there is another two step story: the people who are good at what they do and those who aren't.
This doesn’t just apply to hospitality. But hospitality is the standout example because it is one of those sectors where anyone can join and you can be anything from exceptional to useless, and a lot of things in-between.
In 1990 Paul Keating, then Australian Treasurer, famously said this is the recession we had to have. Australia had not known a recession and had always been the lucky country.
But part of the argument was a recession cleans out the hopeless. It tidies an economy up.
The strong survive because they hustle and adjust. The weak wither and die and out of the renewal starts something afresh.
A lot of people liquidating only tells you a fraction of the story and the story is supposed to make you feel bad.
It shouldn’t. It's life. If you are good and determined and work hard in hospitality or anywhere else, you'll be fine.
If you are really determined, you will be more than fine.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
But ask yourself this: are all the cafes gone? No.
So is it possible we were over-cafe'd?
Is part of the problem with hospitality the fact anyone can join? You simply write a cheque, put an apron on, and you are in the hospitality game.
Do you know what you are doing? Are you interested in excelling or are you looking for an easy job and an easy job for your family?
Are you providing something new, or better, or different, or just adding to the collection of people who pedal paninis and bowls of cappuccino?
We talk a lot about the two step, or two stage, economy. Normally it's rural vs urban, Auckland vs Queenstown.
But there is another two step story: the people who are good at what they do and those who aren't.
This doesn’t just apply to hospitality. But hospitality is the standout example because it is one of those sectors where anyone can join and you can be anything from exceptional to useless, and a lot of things in-between.
In 1990 Paul Keating, then Australian Treasurer, famously said this is the recession we had to have. Australia had not known a recession and had always been the lucky country.
But part of the argument was a recession cleans out the hopeless. It tidies an economy up.
The strong survive because they hustle and adjust. The weak wither and die and out of the renewal starts something afresh.
A lot of people liquidating only tells you a fraction of the story and the story is supposed to make you feel bad.
It shouldn’t. It's life. If you are good and determined and work hard in hospitality or anywhere else, you'll be fine.
If you are really determined, you will be more than fine.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
3 comments:
Absolutely we have had far too many cafes. Times are hard, but quite simply, no one wants to cut the cloth to fit.
We’ve lost some exceptional local eateries- they hung in there until clearly they just couldn’t anymore.
And then there’s the likes of munch in Palmerston North which is still consistently packed every single day! And the place is massive too.
Another that’s consistently packed is charley noble in Wellington- so what mikes saying is true - the best will push through. The rubbish will die…..it’s the sadness of the ones in the middle who were good but couldn’t hang in there any longer- that’s where the real pain is felt.
Meanwhile council rates go up again and again and again
It’s only a guess, but I think we have but a handful of truly excellent hospitality wizards who start cafes and restaurants that are excellent, then sell at the top. Once the new owners take over they have all the tools for their own success but they often begin to cut costs and change menus and start wrapping food in glad wrap to preserve instead of baking fresh - this is the death knell of a cafe. I don’t feel anymore sorry for these owners than I do for any other business that’s failing and I agree with Mike, they are the reason for the failure.
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