Cafes and bars faring better at level 1, but people are spending less

Thursday, 18 June 2020

Bistronomy owner James Beck explains why they have shifted to a new comfort menu

The number of people going to cafes or spending a night out on the town has bounced back strongly after the move to alert level 1, but they are not spending as they used to, a Restaurant Association survey shows.

Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said overall trading was better than at level 2, but a little over half of survey respondents indicated they were still experiencing significantly lower income than in the same period last year.

However, more than a third of bars, pubs and clubs reported improved sales compared to a year ago.

Spending at restaurants and takeaway shops was down 62 per cent and 70 per cent respectively, but for cafes it was 53 per cent lower and bars 45 per cent.

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Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois hopes Kiwis will take advantage of the country's eateries while international travel is off-limits.

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Canterbury appeared to be bouncing back the quickest, with 56 per cent of establishments reporting that trade was the same or better than the previous year.

Bidois said this pointed to a higher number of suburban eateries, which had benefited from the increased number of people working from home.

Hayley Scott and Leoni Calnan enjoy their girls night at Bubbles bar at Alert Level 1. A third of bars, pubs and clubs surveyed reported higher sales compared to a year ago as Kiwis get back into the swing of things.

The hardest hit regions were Auckland and the Southern Lakes district.

In Auckland only 29 per cent of establishments said sales were the same or better than last year, while 71 per cent said sales were less or significantly less.

In the Southern Lakes district 75 per cent said sales were less or significantly less than the same period last year.

In Wellington only 42 per cent experienced equal or greater trading.

Bidois said the drop in sales in many cases was due to customers spending less rather than fewer people going out. Customer traffic was almost the same as a year ago.

“From speaking to members we’re seeing reduced footfall in Auckland specifically with reports of better weekend spending but reduced week-day footfall.

'The move towards working from home will almost certainly be impacting those city centre establishments set up to service the mid week work crowd,' she said.

While it was normal for hospitality trade to be slower in winter, it was hoped that international travel restrictions would motivate people to frequent the country's 'amazing eateries', Bidois said.