Glut of hospo outlets
Kiwis spent $11.7 billion eating out last year but competition for customers is tougher than ever for the more than 2500 new hospitality outlets that opened their doors.
Annual industry figures from the Restaurant Association show there are now almost 17,900 hospo businesses, which equates to one for every 267 people.
Spending was up just over 4 per cent nationally, with Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury each recording annual sales of more than $1b, and Waikato is rapidly closing in on that mark.
But growth in the number of new outlets slowed to its lowest level in five years, and Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said that was not necessarily a bad thing given the strong competition for customers and a shortage of skilled staff. ‘‘Competition for the dollars is still fierce.’’
Nationally 2544 new businesses opened last year, and 2171 closed (shut their doors or the owners sold). Cafes and restaurants headed both categories, followed by takeaway food outlets, catering services, pubs, bars and clubs.
Auckland led the way with 1116 openings and 930 closures, followed by Canterbury, which had 300 businesses open and 252 close. ‘‘We have heard from our members that it has been challenging in the Canterbury region and there are other pockets around the country where it seems to be more challenging than others,’’ Bidois said.
A survey of 1000 customers found more than 40 per were eating out between one and three times a week on average, and getting takeaways or home meal deliveries with a similar frequency. When it came to dining experiences, pet peeves were poor service, long waiting times, poor value for money and dirty plates or cutlery.
More than 80 per cent of customers responded to a bad restaurant experience by not returning, three-quarters raised the issue with staff, about a third did nothing, and a quarter posted an online review. Bidois said they encouraged patrons to complain to management so there was an opportunity to put things right.
The hospo industry employed 133,000 people in 2018, more than half of them in cafes and restaurants, but overall numbers grew just under 2 per cent.
Bidois said that was in part due to difficulties in finding staff, even though wages had gone up 5 per cent on average, and Service IQ estimates an extra 50,000 hospitality workers will be required by 2024.
About a third of fulltime staff and 18 per cent of part-timers are on visas, and this heavy reliance on migrant workers means any tightening up of immigration policy is a concern. ‘‘It has made our industry nervous, people are worried about not being able to access the assistance they need.
‘‘We have not seen employment numbers keep pace with the number of businesses that are opening, and it really speaks to the stress this puts operators under when they cannot find key staff,’’ Bidois said.
In some cases positions went unfilled for six months, and this increased the pressure on owners who worked about 65 hours per week on average.