For over a century, “the customer is always right” has been the unquestioned law of hospitality. It sounds like good service. In practice, it has quietly become something uglier: a licence for a small minority of customers to treat staff in ways they would never accept anywhere else. Now, finally, the industry is pushing back….
Restaurant no-show fees have become one of the most divisive topics in hospitality, and few things split a room faster. Mention them to a diner and you will often hear that it feels presumptuous, even insulting, to be charged before you have eaten a thing. Mention them to an operator and you will hear something…
AI food images have become one of the most talked-about controversies in hospitality right now, and not in a good way. Over the past few weeks, diners have taken to social media in their thousands to call out restaurants using AI-generated pictures of their meals, describing the results as uncanny, glossy and frankly unappetising. One…
Tipping in New Zealand has always been simple: you pay what is on the bill, and that is that. No awkward mental maths, no guilt-tripping card screen, no server depending on your generosity to make rent. But that quiet consensus is starting to wobble. Eftpos machines now flash tip prompts, some operators are openly floating…
The card surcharge ban NZ operators were told to expect by May 2026 has quietly failed to arrive. The deadline came and went, the legislation is stalled in Parliament, and that little sticker on your payment terminal is still doing its job. For hospitality, this is not a minor political footnote. Surcharges, and whether you…
Here is a contradiction every operator is living through right now. People are dining out less and watching every dollar, yet more than half say they will happily pay a premium for the right experience. That is not a paradox, it is the single most important shift in hospitality today. The rise of experiential dining…
For most New Zealand hospitality operators, labour is the single biggest cost on the P&L, and the one that feels hardest to control. With the minimum wage now at $23.95 an hour and wage costs at record highs, the pressure is real. But here is the mistake too many owners make: when margins tighten, the…
There is a quiet revolution happening at the bar, and it has nothing to do with technology. Low and no alcohol drinks have gone from a token afterthought, a lonely lemonade for the designated driver, to one of the fastest-growing categories in hospitality. Yet plenty of New Zealand venues still treat the alcohol-free option as…
On Wednesday evening, Parliament repealed the Holidays Act 2003 and replaced it with the Employment Leave Act 2026. For an industry that runs on casual shifts, variable hours and split rosters, this is one of the most significant payroll changes hospitality has seen in two decades. The good news is you have time to prepare….
