Bolt launches new Family Profile feature in New Zealand
European ride-hailing firm Bolt is launching in NZ " to shake up what has long been a duopoly in the New Zealand market, dominated by Uber". Bolt's NZ country manager Adam Muirson. 27 May 2025 New Zealand Herald photograph by Dean Purcell
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NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Some people live for chitchat. Others hate it. Service workers have two seconds to figure out which camp a customer is in
For America's 24.6 million service workers – who make an average of US$33,396 (NZ$56,000) each year, half of the national average income – this means trying to read body language, note eye contact and interpret tone in a matter of seconds, sometimes while working an espresso machine. 'I usually start my interactions by saying, 'Hey how's it going?' so they can either engage with that, or they can blow through it,' says Allie Lawrence, a barista and manager at an independently owned coffee shop in Brooklyn. 'It's kind of like you're having to micro-therapise people before even interacting with them because you're not sure what the energy is you're going to get.' Scotty Ross, who lives in Chandler, Arizona, and drives for Uber, starts with, 'How's your day going?' And then, 'I kind of catch the vibe from there,' he says. (When he's a passenger and doesn't feel like talking, he gives polite one-word answers. 'It feels like one of those 'Seinfeld' episode situations,' he says.) Customers who respond harshly to friendly overtures may not realise that at some businesses, small talk is a requirement for workers, not a personal choice. When Lawrence trains new workers, she suggests a few phrases, like, 'Hey, how's it going?' or, 'Good to see you, what can I get started?' At some places, she says, workers can get written up for skipping this step. 'It is kind of our job to give a 'wow' experience,' says William, a Trader Joe's employee in Seattle who asked to withhold his last name to speak freely about his workplace. 'Hey, how's it going?' is William's only prepared line. 'From there, if they seem like they want to talk, I'll ask more questions. If not, I'll let it be, I just ring them out and bag them and let them go.' Shoppers tell him about their ongoing chemotherapy and the death of their beloved cats. This kind of thing didn't happen when he worked at Costco, William says. During morning shifts at Trader Joe's, elderly people come in wanting someone to talk to. But the conversations aren't always pleasant. Customers have yelled at his co-workers for not engaging in sufficient conversation, he says. According to the American Psychological Association's 2023 Work in America Survey, nearly a third of respondents who worked in person with customers or patients said they had experienced verbal abuse in the past year, compared with 22% of office workers. For some service workers, small talk makes business sense. 'I would say most riders don't tip, and they're more likely to tip if they get into a conversation,' says Ross. When Ross started driving for Uber in 2016, he remembers keeping 80% of each fare. Now, he says Uber gives him only 30 to 50% of what each rider pays. Tips can make the difference, he pointed out, between making around minimum wage in Arizona (before the cost of gas, car maintenance and taxes) and making double that. Lawrence also sees a correlation between conversation and tips. 'The more of an experience or a show that I'm able to curate for the customer, potentially that results in higher tips,' she says. Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski is credited with first describing 'a type of speech in which ties of union are created by a mere exchange of words'. In 1923, he described these exchanges, which he called 'phatic communication,' as 'purposeless expressions of preference or aversions, accounts of irrelevant happenings, comments on what is perfectly obvious'. Like, say, exchanging observations about the weather with a stranger before making them an oat milk latte. Malinowski's definition hints at why small talk can be strangely polarising – it is by design both meaningless and crucial. 'It is your turn to say something now, Mr Darcy,' Elizabeth Bennet demands, when her dance partner refuses to make small talk. 'I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples.' The European marketers might say that Elizabeth is more 'communally oriented' and Darcy is more 'exchange-oriented'. Ella Fuller, a server in Iowa City, says that these exchanges are a part of the job she enjoys. 'If there's a place in between small talk and overshare, I've always really liked that part of service,' she said. Fuller works at a bar and cafe and had previous gigs at a barbecue spot and an Italian restaurant. At each of these jobs, she says, she had experiences where instances of small talk devolved into customers making inappropriate comments about her body. At the barbecue spot, she told those customers to knock it off. But at the Italian restaurant, she felt obligated to smile through all customer behaviour. She eventually brought the issue to management and was supported. The idea that the customer is always right, writes researcher Dana Yagil, 'implies, for customers as well as for service providers, that customers are entitled to misbehave, while service providers are expected to put up with such misbehaviours'. A shift, as of late, is that service workers are responding to customers with their own complaints and screeds. On TikTok, nearly 6 million followers tune in to watch actor and longtime server Drew Talbert dramatise restaurant behaviour from a server's perspective. Bartenders go viral for satirising pushy customers. Lawrence, who does stand-up comedy, makes videos re-enacting interactions with customers who inexplicably demand made-up coffee drinks. Servers have taken to TikTok to imitate the 'Gen Z stare', a reference to the way some young adults stare coldly at servers, as if rebuking them for the question, 'Hi, what can I help you with today?' Finding the right balance of small talk is a customer-facing worker's struggle. 'I don't know why – I can't stop myself – I talk too much,' moans Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, comparing himself to more successful colleagues. Ross advises other Uber drivers to let customers do 80% of the talking. 'Try not to interrupt them and tell your own stories,' he cautions. 'Basically, be an interviewer.' He notices that he gets his best tips when he's drinking an energy drink and feels cheerful and energised. That service-oriented self isn't always accessible, and that affects his income. 'The first week after my dad died I don't think I got any tips because I was in a bad mood, but I still needed to make some money,' he says. 'You never really know what someone's going through,' he notes – whether driver or rider.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Uber says new Whanganui service will complement existing travel options
Payment options include credit and debit cards, and PayPal. Lopez said traditionally the company developed activity in a new location gradually. 'We'll start with a smaller number of drivers and make sure there is a reliable product for customers. 'There are a few steps drivers need to go through to be accredited, like a [NZTA Passenger Endorsement] and a vehicle inspection. 'It takes about three to four weeks. If we see we have enough drivers, we should be able to launch soon after that.' Dan Lopez says Uber realised Whanganui was one of several centres 'where we weren't live but definitely should be'. Drivers must be at least 20 years old and have held a valid full New Zealand driver's licence for at least a year. Business Whanganui chief executive Helen Garner said her organisation would help with driver recruitment. 'We had [Government Minister] Chris Bishop in town earlier in the month, and we were up at the Sarjeant Gallery,' she said. 'Inevitably, the conversation turned to parking and somebody said we needed more of it. 'I said 'No, we actually need Uber'. Then, a couple of weeks later, they made the approach.' She said the city was growing and evolving, and it needed mixed-model transport. 'I see it being quite complementary to what we have now.' Horizons Regional Council will increase its funding for Whanganui's bus network by $400,000 in 2025/26. Whanganui District Council's representative on Horizons' passenger transport committee, Anthonie Tonnon, said he was working in Queenstown in 2017 when Uber and a new bus network began about the same time. 'We saw both be used very well,' he said. 'If there is more availability for a ride home, people might be willing to take a bus in.' However, Uber would not 'solve everything'. 'The Tide [Whanganui's high-frequency bus service] takes 350 people per day,' Tonnon said. 'If we wanted Uber to take them, we would be adding a lot of cars to the transport system.' Garner said Uber offered flexible employment, which could appeal to those who were studying or semi-retired, or people with family commitments. 'People also use it to supplement their day jobs,' she said. 'I think it will be quite popular. It's a great option.' Whanganui's airport shuttle service operator Mike De Har said he would not move on to the Uber app, but he had no problem with it coming to Whanganui if drivers went through a thorough vetting system. 'Most of my clients are repeat customers – they go overseas, come back and pick me,' said. 'It's comfortable, reliable and secure. I'm pretty sure they'll stick with me.' Uber was launched in New Zealand in 2014 in Auckland and then Wellington. Christchurch was next, in 2016, followed by Hamilton, Tauranga, Dunedin and Queenstown. It started in Palmerston North and New Plymouth in October 2019. Business Whanganui Chamber of Commerce chief executive Helen Garner. Lopez said Covid-19 put plans for new locations on hold but Whanganui, along with other centres such as Gisborne and Whangārei, were part of 'the second wave of expansion'. He also viewed Uber as complementary to other transport options. 'We allow taxis to operate on the platform as drivers, and that provides additional earnings opportunities outside their traditional channels.' Reliable Cabs operator John Freeman said he would not work for Uber. He did not have a problem with competition – 'that's fair enough'. However, as an overseas company, he did not think Uber was paying its fair share in taxes. 'That money is going overseas, it's not going back into our health system, education and roading,' he said. 'It's the same for the supermarkets, banks and companies like Apple.' River City Cabs did not want to comment on Uber. Lopez said charges for the service varied between cities and locations, and for different times or days of the week. 'We try to set the optimal price for the right level of demand but, also, the right level of supply,' he said. 'Obviously, we are not live [in Whanganui] yet, so we tend to set the price and monitor it closely. 'If we need to make any changes, we can.' Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Farming in Catlins calls again after stint steering Oritain
Otago businessman Grant Cochrane was always going to return to farming, he just got side-tracked a little on the way. Business and rural editor Sally Rae reports. It's family farming at its finest. After a career in currency trading and business, most recently as the globe-trotting chief executive of Dunedin success story Oritain, Grant Cochrane is looking forward to being grounded — literally. Mr Cochrane has stepped back from his role at Oritain, the global leader in using forensic science to determine product provenance of food, beverages, fibres and pharmaceuticals. After 13 years' involvement, first as an investor and then chief executive and director, it was time to focus on the next chapter. A large chunk of that included his family's farming business Tōtara Hills, a South Otago sheep, beef, deer and carbon operation, near Owaka, and to involve their children was very gratifying for Mr Cochrane and his wife Andrea. From growing up on a block of land on the Taieri, Mr Cochrane always wanted to be a farmer. Back when he left school and saw a programme which featured John Key as a currency trader, he decided to get into currency trading. Ironically, a few decades later, he managed to persuade Sir John — who by then had added Prime Minister and a knighthood to his CV — to join the board of Oritain. But throughout his career, farming was always the vision and, while Mr Cochrane might have got side-tracked with other things, it was something he was always going to return to. After completing a bachelor of commerce (finance) degree at the University of Otago, Mr Cochrane headed to London to start a career in currency trading. He spent 11 years primarily in London, with stints in Zurich, Singapore, Tokyo and New York, working for various European and American institutions including Credit Suisse, Citibank and Royal Bank of Canada. He and his wife later decided to return New Zealand to raise a family and to farm. Mr Cochrane bought the home farm in the Catlins in 1998, and spent 12 years managing the farming business. They moved to Dunedin, for their children's education, and he became managing director of A. G. Foley Ltd and got involved with Oritain, and the farm was leased out. He was the founding chairman of Oritain — created by Prof Russell Frew and Dr Helen Darling at the University of Otago in 2008 — and chief executive for more than a decade, moving his family to Switzerland. Luxury high-end fashion and retail companies, including Lacoste, Supima and Primark, and food producers such as a2 Milk and Nescafe, used Oritain to assure customers the items they bought were genuine and produced from an ethical supply chain. The company could create a unique fingerprint from products globally and prove its provenance. Its science could pinpoint the exact area a product or raw material came from, within metres. Switzerland, with its central European location, had been a great place to be based and it was also very pro-business. It was well organised, very safe and offered high quality education, healthcare and transport. "It's been very good for us but nothing beats the community of rural South Otago," Mr Cochrane said. They missed that sense of community and there was the appeal of a rural community to return to. Working overseas, both in banking and commerce, he discovered it was very much transaction first while, in New Zealand's rural communities, it was relationships and people first. Returning home had been a stark reminder of that, he said. Stepping back from Oritain had been in the back of his mind and, once the Series C capital raise was completed in mid-2023, it became more front of mind. Oritain raised $US57 million to develop technology and expand into new markets and industries. "The time seemed right, I'd done it for 12 years ... it was a big commitment," he said. Asked what he was most proud of at Oritain, Mr Cochrane quipped: "survival". With the failure rate of start-ups estimated at 92%, survival was good. But probably the biggest highlights were getting the company to a successful Series C capital raise and the team that had been built at Oritain. There was a very strong culture — "a real Kiwi culture with a can-do attitude" — and that had been taken off-shore. The company had been ambitious and it had attracted "fantastic" people. Commercialising science was challenging, but probably a bigger challenge was managing and maintaining culture while taking a business offshore. To build something special and attract people like Sir John Key to be part of it was very gratifying. Sir John initially said no — as he had previously to many other companies and organisations that had approached him when he left politics in late 2016 — but Mr Cochrane proved persuasive and Sir John really liked the story He had been exposed to the company while doing advisory work for kiwifruit marketer Zespri, which used Oritain's technology to trace kiwifruit being illegally grown in China. Last year, Oritain expanded its international reach, opening an office in Singapore to join those in London, Washington DC, Singapore, Auckland and Dunedin, which were home, in total, to more than 200 staff. Mr Cochrane made that announcement while in Singapore with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's delegation, which was representing New Zealand businesses' interests in priority South East Asian markets. Quipping that the next day he was in the Owaka pub, Mr Cochrane said he had been fortunate to have been able to have operated in two different worlds. But home was the farm. Having bought neighbouring land, the Cochranes were back farming a total land area of 2498ha, with the help of staff — "it's Totara Hills version 2.0," he said. The intention was to run the farming operation as one. They wanted to farm "simply and well and profitably" but also do things a little differently, thinking of ways to benefit the land and also use out-of-the-box thinking. They wanted to farm sustainably — both financially but also very much long-term environmentally — and were looking at things like regenerative agriculture. Mr Cochrane believed that was an opportunity for New Zealand; many farmers were already employing lot of the principles already like multi-species, rotational grazing and reducing chemical use. They wanted to eat the produce off their farm and it needed to be produced in a way they were comfortable with, he said. It was also an inter-generational farm — Mr Cochrane's father had worked on it and now daughter Sophie and son Andrew were getting involved — and the family wanted to be part of the farming community and wider Catlins community. Sophie Cochrane said they hoped that as well as having the farm as their home, it would also be a springboard for ideas and for other people in the community "to do cool things". She and her brother, who is in his second year of university in Canada, were keen on developing eco or agri-tourism on the property, and wanted to do that in partnership with the community. They were keen for a walking track on not only their property but also hopefully involving the surrounding area. Miss Cochrane, who has been away from New Zealand for nine years, spent her last secondary school year overseas, studying by correspondence. Both his children had benefited from growing up in New Zealand but also from seeing the rest of the world, Mr Cochrane believed. Knowing there was a home to return to also kept them feeling grounded in the land and the experience also made them appreciate what they had in New Zealand, Miss Cochrane said. She completed an arts degree in politics, sociology and East European studies at UCL (University College London) and a master's degree in environmental anthropology — how people related to the land and vice-versa — and did her thesis on the Otago region. While in London, she did an internship at the House of Lords. While she had not particularly used either degree in her job, they were "wonderful to do". Now working in film and television in the UK, she was fulfilling a dream she had since she was little. For both father and daughter, a simple life in South Otago was appealing, and Mr Cochrane saw a "real movement" towards that simplicity and cleaner living . "I think we have that in New Zealand and take it for granted," he said. People were also looking for real relationships and authenticity, something the country had in "bucketloads too". The Cochranes saw lots of opportunities on Tōtara Hills to diversify. Those they had taken on farm tours were "blown away" by New Zealand farming systems. Farmers did not tell their story well enough and agri or eco-tourism was a good conduit to hero those farming systems. Mr Cochrane felt very optimistic for the New Zealand agricultural sector, saying land use would change but what that land produced would be increasingly sought after. Farming was at an exciting stage and there were lots of opportunities. "Love it or hate it", the Emissions Trading Scheme also provided revenue opportunities for farmers, he said. At Oritain, the company had been very close to brands and understood what customers wanted. Getting closer to consumers probably impacted the way his family farmed; producers needed to be vigilant and aligned to what consumers wanted, he said. Asked whether the family would market their produce themselves, Mr Cochrane believed there were bigger gains for the industry by people working together. He used to sell venison at the Otago Farmers' Market and he loved the connection with consumers, understanding why they bought a particular cut and what they were going to do with it. It was a great way of connecting consumers to the land. Contrary to what people might think, start-up life was not glamorous. Mr Cochrane estimated he spent 150 to 200 days a year travelling — "if I never got on another plane, I'd be happy" — over the past decade. There was pressure to "get stuff done" and flights were often done at night to avoid hotel bills. He was extremely proud of what Oritain had achieved and he looked forward to watching what its "amazing" team continued to achieve, under his successor, new chief executive Alyn Franklin. Oritain was a company which was well ahead of its time. It now had a "fantastic springboard" to continue growing and he believed its service would only become more relevant in a heightened geo-political world. In many ways, the likes of Oritain was part of the future of New Zealand — having companies that exported a service to add value to global companies from New Zealand IP, he said. Mr Cochrane cited the examples of Rocket Lab, Halter and Animation Research, saying there were many brilliant businesses in New Zealand. Halter, the virtual fencing and animal management company founded by Craig Piggott, was a great example of leveraging New Zealand's agricultural expertise to create a product. Agri-tech in New Zealand had been in a sweet spot since Gallagher pioneered electrical fencing and, in a way, Oritain was part of that agritech sector. But now Mr Cochrane would be following Oritain's progress from the sideline as he pulled on his boots "Right now, I just want to get a dog coming back to me and learn how to ride a horse again. "My aspirations at the moment are very much to spend time with family and the farm."
