‘More booze sold despite restrictions’

A hospitality business has found some customers are buying more alcohol after it took liquor bottles off its shelves.

La Bella Italia restaurant and specialty shop owner Antonio Cacace says alcohol licensing laws have had the opposite effect of their intended purpose – while his sales of wine and limoncello have dropped, customers are buying alcohol in greater quantities on average. Until 2016, the Lower Hutt business held both an on-licence and off-licence for its restaurant and shop, which shared the same floorspace. Alcohol laws meant multiple licences could not be held on the premises because there was no physical separation between the two parts of the business.

Cacace chose to keep the onlicence for the restaurant and move the shop’s liquor sales online. While overall sales had dropped, cheaper box prices meant customers were buying more per transaction, he said.

‘‘This is a stupid situation. ‘‘We are selling less. [Those who are buying online are] buying more because they see the carton price which is cheaper [per bottle].’’

He understood the laws were designed to curb alcohol harm but said businesses like his were not promoting binge drinking and were still being penalised.

Bel Mondo, La Bella’s sister store in Rongotai, closed last year after a partition was placed between the restaurant and store so both sections could continue to sell alcohol. The separation detracted from the atmosphere and the business closed due to a loss in revenue, Cacace said.

He presented a petition signed by more than 3000 people to the justice committee, seeking an amendment to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. The committee’s report last month stated the act was in need of amendment.

‘‘We think it unlikely that Parliament intended the restrictions in the act to apply to the petitioner’s particular situation,’’ the committee’s report read.

While it was agreed clarification was needed to address licensing situations concerning connected restaurants and shops, National and Labour committee members could not agree on the best course of action.

Change needed to come sooner rather than later, Cacace said.

‘‘They have targeted the wrong part of the hospitality industry.

‘‘At La Bella we are educating people on eating and drinking the Italian way – in moderation. When we stop eating, we stop drinking.’’

National’s Hutt South MP, Chris Bishop, who helped Cacace organise his petition, said it was up to the Government to amend the act. Justice Minister Andrew Little said he understood Cacace’s frustration and the act would be reviewed within the next two years.