Latest news with #RestaurantAssociation
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Ban on card payment surcharges: Cafe owner says they'll have to pass on cost
The government plans to ban surcharges on card payments for in-person payments. Photo: 123rf Prices may need to rise at restaurants and cafes due to a ban on credit card surcharges, the sector is warning. The government plans to ban surcharges on card payments for in-person payments. Legislation is expected to be introduced to Parliament by the end of the year, with the ban to kick into effect no later than May 2026. Richard Corney, founder of Flight Coffee and The Hangar cafe, said he would have to pass the cost on to consumers somehow. "Our cafe, The Hangar, paid $17,000 in merchant fees in 2023 for the privilege of using PayWave and other associated services," Corney said. "Yes, it speeds up service and there's value using it, but the solution isn't banning vendors from on charging this expense. What next? They ban cafes from charging a surcharge for opening on a public holiday? Better yet, and while they're putting restrictions on the banks, why not ban the banks from charging for this service outright and save small businesses real money by not having to fund this expense." He said cafes would operate on profit to revenue ratios of less than five percent. "Banks do not - and they're also institutionally paramount functions of our society," Corney said. He said $17,000 was a significant portion of after-tax profit "I absolutely have to on-charge any associated expense with regard to this." The policy seemed out of touch, he said. Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois agreed it would be tough on hospitality businesses operating on tight margins. "These surcharges are genuine costs that businesses must pay. Without surcharges, businesses will need to absorb these fees, further impacting already small margins." She said the announcement had come as a surprise. "We've actively engaged with the Government to outline the financial pressures faced by hospitality businesses due to bank-imposed fees," Bidois said. "While we welcome consumer-focused changes, we are concerned about the lack of consultation on this particular announcement." She said businesses would probably need to adjust their pries. "Removing the ability to surcharge could mean businesses factoring these costs into their overall pricing, potentially leading to increased costs for diners." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DC restaurants shutting down at record rates, new report shows
The Brief A new report says hundreds of jobs are being lost as restaurants shut down at record levels in D.C. Many restaurant owners blame the controversial Initiative 82 policy. The law is meant to phase out the "tip wage" system, where workers earn a lower than the base minimum wage. WASHINGTON - A new report says 900 jobs are being lost as D.C. restaurants shut down at record rates. At this time, may D.C. restaurants are pointing the finger at a controversial measure concerning tipped workers. By the numbers Across the District, two restaurants per week are reportedly closing down for good. This comes as the D.C. council prepares to take up the controversial Initiative 82. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington says the latest data shows new restaurant openings are down 17% compared to this time last year. The troubling trends come as a jobs report reveals a reported net industry loss. Dig deeper FOX 5 has learned the new mid-year data from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington indicates that D.C. is losing restaurants at an historic rate, reportedly averaging two closures per week so far this year. More than 50 restaurants have apparently closed in the first half of this year. That's reportedly nearly double compared to the same timeframe last year. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington believes the rapid and record-breaking restaurant closures are due to increased operating costs and the minimum tipped wage increase with the phased implementation of Initiative 82. What they're saying Patrons we spoke with described the situation as saddening and pointed out that the District is an area that thrives on the food and hospitality industries. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington says it's watching closely as the DC Council prepares to take up Initiative 82 on Monday. The District is apparently on pace to exceed 100 closures by the end of the year, surpassing the 2024 record of 73. Solve the daily Crossword
JAMnews
5 days ago
- Business
- JAMnews
Restaurant boom in Armenia: business responds to demand
Restaurant boom in Armenia New restaurants, bars, cafés, diners and canteens are frequently opening in Yerevan and Armenia's regional tourist hubs. Some existing restaurants are changing their concepts, offering new menus, different atmospheres, and modern service approaches. Food service businesses rarely shut down or declare bankruptcy, which signals strong demand. So, how did this demand emerge, who are the primary patrons, and why have services become more expensive? Patrons, a marketing expert, and the head of the NGO 'Restaurant Association' weigh in. 'A country of unique flavours' Lusine and Manvel have been living in Moscow for twelve years but return to their homeland at least twice a year. They say one visit is usually devoted to seeing friends and relatives, the other to dining out. They traditionally organise tasting tours in Yerevan, Gyumri, Dilijan, and Sevan. This year, they decided to explore new culinary offerings in the Lori region. 'Food in Armenia has a special taste. And when you combine that with high-quality presentation, carefully selected crockery, music, and a welcoming staff, dining out becomes a real celebration. For me, a meal is not only a biological necessity – it's also about mood, emotion, and memory,' says Lusine. She has a culinary background, which helps her both in grocery shopping and experimenting in her own kitchen, as well as in evaluating restaurant offerings: 'I believe Armenia is excellent when it comes to working with meat. Various techniques are used in preparing meat dishes. And there's a secret to the impressive flavour – it's the spices and local herbs: dill, coriander, basil. When making salads, chefs aren't afraid of interesting, unconventional combinations either.' Manvel adds that while there are interesting restaurants in Russia they enjoy visiting as a family, in Armenia they appreciate the blend of atmosphere and the creative presentation of delicious dishes. 'We pay particular attention to interior design and music as well. Over the past three years, the restaurant business in Armenia has undergone significant changes. This year alone, we've visited ten establishments. Everywhere we went, the music was well chosen, and we enjoyed the vibrant décor,' he says. Many of their acquaintances have also visited Armenia for a second or third time with their families – specifically for gastronomic tourism. They note that restaurant prices in Armenia are not as affordable as, for example, in neighbouring Georgia. At the same time, they find the offerings in Armenian restaurants more diverse and aesthetically refined. 'You could say Armenia already has everything it needs for developing gastronomic tourism – excellent restaurants across the country, hotels and guesthouses of various standards, and warm, welcoming service. What remains is to brand it and present it to the world,' Lusine asserts. 'High prices are justified' Gohar Alumyan is a restaurant marketing expert. She comments on the state of the sector without naming the establishments she works with: 'Our restaurants are very well segmented. Each has its own clientele and operates in a healthy competitive environment. However, not all venues that present themselves as high-end restaurants truly offer the menu, atmosphere or presentation that would justify an average spend of 40,000–50,000 drams ($105-130) per person.' According to her, most patrons of mid- to high-end restaurants in Armenia are tourists, embassy staff, or local residents with high incomes. This clientele, Gohar says, has high expectations. They demand top-quality service, distinctive menus, live music, and premium crockery: 'To avoid losing customers, restaurants respond quickly to demand and maintain standards that meet these expectations. The situation is quite different in the lower-priced segment, where there are issues around food quality, preparation standards, and service culture.' Gohar notes that restaurant prices in Armenia vary widely. There are places where the average spend per person is around 40,000 drams ($105), and others where it's just 3,000 drams (less than $8). She explains that high-end restaurants make substantial investments in: renting or purchasing premises, retraining staff, marketing, premium ingredients, high-end kitchen equipment, tableware. 'And that's not even the full list. These expenses inevitably impact final pricing. Every restaurant has its own niche. If they're not shutting down, it means sales are generating sufficient profit. I travel a lot and can confidently say that Armenia has many restaurants and hotels offering top-class service,' she adds. 'Yerevan stays up late – and that benefits the restaurant trade' Ashot Barseghyan, director of the NGO 'Restaurant Association', says the sector has not only developed in recent years, but has also matured. Businesses have invested heavily and are fully capable of meeting current demand. 'Armenia has natural advantages – 300 sunny days a year, delicious fruits and vegetables, and a distinctive cuisine. Between 2016 and 2018, growing social activity and a rise in foreign visitors created strong demand, which entrepreneurs responded to quickly. Understandably, this activity dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 44-day war. Afterwards, the arrival of Russian relocants brought new energy to the sector and led to the opening of new and distinctive restaurants,' Barseghyan explains. He acknowledges that some of those establishments closed after many Russians left. However, those with an engaging format and original offerings have continued to operate. 'Yerevan stays up late. That's just the city's natural rhythm. For half the year, the weather is hot and sunny. People work in the mornings and afternoons, but due to the heat, many avoid going outside. Activity picks up in the evenings, around 7 or 8pm. People go out for a walk, have dinner somewhere, enjoy a coffee or a glass of wine. They return home at midnight or even later,' says Ashot Barseghyan. He notes that tourists also adapt to the local rhythm. During the day, they visit museums and cool wineries; in the evenings, they head to restaurants. 'Guests continue their daytime excursions in Yerevan's safe night-time environment. For the restaurant industry to grow, it's important to understand which countries' tourists are more willing to spend. For example, most Europeans prefer budget options. I can say with certainty that Russians enjoy visiting expensive restaurants, ordering multiple dishes, consuming a lot of drinks, and shopping. In that sense, we have great untapped potential. Wine and winemaking could multiply tourist flows from Russia. It would be worth launching aggressive marketing campaigns in this direction – including with state support,' he suggests. According to Barseghyan, prices have risen in recent times. Whereas a meal for two in a Yerevan restaurant might have cost 20,000 drams ($52)) previously, it would now be double that. 'This price increase is due to higher taxes. Since January 2025, taxes have risen 2.5 times. As a result, prices had to go up – otherwise, there would have been an impact on quality, staff choices, and other factors,' he explains. Follow us – Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Restaurant boom in Armenia
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
What are people in hospo being paid?
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ People working in hospitality have been getting paid a rate that is closer and closer to the minimum wage over the years. The Restaurant Association has produced its latest remuneration report, which shows what people are being paid on average around the country. But economists say it also highlights how little many hospitality jobs are paying. A bar manager is now being paid an average $32.20 an hour, a barista $26.91, a breakfast chef $29.23. Café managers are earning an average $29.86, chef de partie $29.63, and duty managers $29.16. General managers are earning $44.85, head chefs $36.81 and kitchen hands $25.03. Sommeliers are getting $30.30 on average and wait staff $25.52. The minimum wage is $23.50. "Our latest remuneration survey reflects a sector that is steadily moving forward," said Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association. "Despite continued cost pressures and tight operating margins, hospitality businesses are prioritising wage growth and creating structured pathways for career progression." The average hourly wage across the industry was $27.84, she said, up 2.54 percent from the previous year. Salaried roles edged up to an average of $83,415. She said the report showed clear wage progression in both kitchen and front-of-house roles. Entry-level positions started close to the minimum wage, but moved up. Head chefs were earning up to $46.62 an hour and general managers averaging $133,208 annually. Front-of-house roles follow a similar path, with senior management roles reaching $45 an hour or more, she said. Caterers and bar operators were earning some of the highest hourly rates, at $32.95 and $30.90 respectively "Whether you're starting out or already in leadership, there are opportunities to grow and earn more," Bidois said. 'Everyone has concerns about whether they will have a job' But Craig Renney, policy director and economist at the Council of Trade Unions said the average rate of wage growth cited in the report was less than the rate of inflation. "At best most workers are standing still." He said the sector had been hurt badly and had not fully recovered since Covid. "We don't have the same number of tourists and people are keeping their hands in their pockets. Everyone has concerns about whether they will have a job." He said it was concerning that people with skills, such as pastry chefs and sommeliers, were still earning only about $30 an hour. "That suggests there is very little return to education or training." People such as bar managers had legal obligations to consider, too, but were not getting much more than the living wage, he said. But he said there were not many restaurants in New Zealand that were sufficiently expensive to pay higher wages. Bidois said, for the first time, operators had reported that wage costs had reached an average 40 percent of outgoings. Renney said there had been little growth in the number of filled jobs in the sector. Since 2019, the number had only increased 4.3 percent. That was about half the rate of all sectors. Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics, said accommodation and food services wages had not kept pace with an economy-wide increase in wages since the 1970s. "The exception was the very tight labour market during Covid-19, when hospitality wages rose faster - you can even see a little bit of this before the pandemic in 2018 and 2019. Essentially, prior to this point in time, employers in the industry didn't need to pay much because there was a relatively good supply of people to do the work." He said, apart from a rally between 2020 and 2022 due to those issues, average hospitality wages had been generally getting close to the minimum wage over time. "Hospitality pay rates, in relative terms, have actually improved between 2017 and 2022, but this lift is likely to have been driven by the very tight labour market more than anything else, and wage growth has slipped back over the last two or three years as the economy and spending growth have weakened and the unemployment rate has risen. "Putting current cyclical conditions aside, demographic projections suggest that the labour market will remain relatively tight over the medium-term as the population ages, which could create conditions for better wage growth in hospitality than prevailed between the 1980s and mid-2000s. "If the labour supply remains tight across the whole economy over the medium-term, then all industries will need to compete harder for labour, but the squeeze could be tightest in lower-paid industries such as retail and hospitality unless their pay rates lift significantly. "The alternative to paying a lot more for workers is to invest in labour-saving capital instead - we've seen this occurring in retail and hospitality over the last couple of decades already, and there was additional pressure during the pandemic, where QR codes for ordering etc reduced the need for wait staff, for example - so increasing wages is not the only part of the puzzle."
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
What are people being paid in hospo?
Photo: 123RF People working in hospitality have been getting paid a rate that is closer and closer to the minimum wage over the years. The Restaurant Association has produced its latest remuneration report, which shows what people are being paid on average around the country. But economists say it also highlights how little many hospitality jobs are paying. A bar manager is now being paid an average $32.20 an hour, a barista $26.91, a breakfast chef $29.23. Café managers are earning an average $29.86, chef de partie $29.63, and duty managers $29.16. General managers are earning $44.85, head chefs $36.81 and kitchen hands $25.03. Sommeliers are getting $30.30 on average and wait staff $25.52. The minimum wage is $23.50. "Our latest remuneration survey reflects a sector that is steadily moving forward," said Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association. "Despite continued cost pressures and tight operating margins, hospitality businesses are prioritising wage growth and creating structured pathways for career progression." The average hourly wage across the industry was $27.84, she said, up 2.54 percent from the previous year. Salaried roles edged up to an average of $83,415. She said the report showed clear wage progression in both kitchen and front-of-house roles. Entry-level positions started close to the minimum wage, but moved up. Head chefs were earning up to $46.62 an hour and general managers averaging $133,208 annually. Front-of-house roles follow a similar path, with senior management roles reaching $45 an hour or more, she said. Caterers and bar operators were earning some of the highest hourly rates, at $32.95 and $30.90 respectively "Whether you're starting out or already in leadership, there are opportunities to grow and earn more," Bidois said. But Craig Renney, policy director and economist at the Council of Trade Unions said the average rate of wage growth cited in the report was less than the rate of inflation. "At best most workers are standing still." He said the sector had been hurt badly and had not fully recovered since Covid. "We don't have the same number of tourists and people are keeping their hands in their pockets. Everyone has concerns about whether they will have a job." He said it was concerning that people with skills, such as pastry chefs and sommeliers, were still earning only about $30 an hour. "That suggests there is very little return to education or training." People such as bar managers had legal obligations to consider, too, but were not getting much more than the living wage, he said. But he said there were not many restaurants in New Zealand that were sufficiently expensive to pay higher wages. Bidois said, for the first time, operators had reported that wage costs had reached an average 40 percent of outgoings. Renney said there had been little growth in the number of filled jobs in the sector. Since 2019, the number had only increased 4.3 percent. That was about half the rate of all sectors. Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics, said accommodation and food services wages had not kept pace with an economy-wide increase in wages since the 1970s. "The exception was the very tight labour market during Covid-19, when hospitality wages rose faster - you can even see a little bit of this before the pandemic in 2018 and 2019. Essentially, prior to this point in time, employers in the industry didn't need to pay much because there was a relatively good supply of people to do the work." He said, apart from a rally between 2020 and 2022 due to those issues, average hospitality wages had been generally getting close to the minimum wage over time. "Hospitality pay rates, in relative terms, have actually improved between 2017 and 2022, but this lift is likely to have been driven by the very tight labour market more than anything else, and wage growth has slipped back over the last two or three years as the economy and spending growth have weakened and the unemployment rate has risen. "Putting current cyclical conditions aside, demographic projections suggest that the labour market will remain relatively tight over the medium-term as the population ages, which could create conditions for better wage growth in hospitality than prevailed between the 1980s and mid-2000s. "If the labour supply remains tight across the whole economy over the medium-term, then all industries will need to compete harder for labour, but the squeeze could be tightest in lower-paid industries such as retail and hospitality unless their pay rates lift significantly. "The alternative to paying a lot more for workers is to invest in labour-saving capital instead - we've seen this occurring in retail and hospitality over the last couple of decades already, and there was additional pressure during the pandemic, where QR codes for ordering etc reduced the need for wait staff, for example - so increasing wages is not the only part of the puzzle."
