Your guide to creating a restaurant membership program

As a restaurant owner or operator, you know customer retention and loyalty can help your business thrive over the long term. If you’re looking for a new way to encourage repeat business and build a community, consider one of the newest trends in the food-service industry: restaurant membership programs. What’s a restaurant membership program? In a restaurant membership program, your customers pay a one-time or recurring fee to gain instant access to exclusive perks or discounts. The benefits vary by restaurant but might include free delivery, food discount codes or invitations to special tasting sessions. Think of a membership program…
Read More

McDonald’s whopping NZ shopping list released –

McDonald’s annual New Zealand shopping list has been released, showing a record amount spent on ingredients for their much loved menu items. In 2022, $214 million was spent on local ingredients for New Zealand restaurants, while a whopping $384 million of produce was exported to other McDonald’s markets. That took the total spend with Kiwi producers to an all-time high of $598 million, $52 million more than in 2021. Macca’s shopping list looks like an average Kiwi’s weekly shop – just a few more zeroes added on the quantity. If you’re curious about what you can get for $214 million…
Read More

HNZ23 Hospitality and Accommodation Conference –

The industry-led event of the year showing innovative trends, industry insights, and networking opportunities for the hospitality and accommodation sector. The HNZ23 Hospitality and Accommodation Conference is an eagerly anticipated event that brings together professionals from the hospitality and accommodation sector. This immersive conference, organized by Hospitality New Zealand, offers a unique platform for industry leaders, experts, and enthusiasts to explore the latest trends, gain valuable insights, and network with like-minded individuals. The HNZ23 Conference has partnered with Maximum Occupancy, a renowned organization dedicated to the accommodation industry. This collaboration introduces a dedicated accommodation stream, ensuring that participants in the…
Read More

Best New Hotel Openings in the World: Announcing the 2023 Hot List Winners

1 San Francisco Hotels Safe New York Ambiente, a Landscape Hotel, Sedona Conrad Los Angeles Her Place Supper Club, Philadelphia Hotel Chelsea, New York City Hotel Per LA Koji Club, Boston LaSemilla, Atlanta Life House, Berkshires, Massachusetts The Loren at Lady Bird Lake, Austin The Madrona, Sonoma mak-‘amham/cafe ohlone, Berkeley, California Mayfair House, Miami Masalawala and Sons, New York City Museum of Broadway, New York City Nine Orchards, New York City Place des Fetes, New York City The Pinch, Charleston Ritz Carlton Nomad, New York City Porcupine Creek Sensei, Rancho Mirage, California Stanley Ranch, Auberge Resorts Collection, Napa ThompsonDenver Ulysses,…
Read More

Jock Zonfrillo: 1976 – 2023 –

Love them or loathe them, reality television programs and their social media lives, have become part of this generation’s culinary experiences. Whether you believe they belittle or encourage the art of great cuisine, it is very hard to underestimate the impact of reality shows such as MasterChef, My Kitchen Rules and the plethora of other food related programs currently available to view. The sudden loss therefore, of brilliant Chef Jock Zonfrillo at just 46, to the world and the MasterChef Australia international community, brought a whole new meaning to the word reality. Reality means losing a talented individual whose culinary…
Read More

The Best New Affordable Hotels in the World: 2023 Hot List

This hipster-hotel titan has spent two decades establishing itself as a shortcut to a city’s pulse. Its first iteration in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney’s city center in the cool-kid neighborhood of Surry Hills, doesn’t disappoint. The Ace, 18 stories high with 257 rooms, is located in a magnificent early-20th-century building that vibrates with top-to-toe creative energy. Revived by Australia’s most in-demand interior architects, Flack Studio, the former brick factory has kept its old bones—high ceilings and exposed brick and concrete walls—offset with one-of-a-kind furniture, art, and bric-a- brac by the country’s best designers, artists, and makers. The deeply…
Read More

Vegan chocolate awards raise the bar –

Vegan Society Aotearoa held its second chocolate awards on April 24 at Khu Khu Eatery in Auckland. With over 100 different vegan chocolate entries the judges had a tasty, yet difficult task to decide this year’s winning entries. Chocolate makers from all over the world entered the awards with the hope of becoming a winner in one of seven categories. This year there were two Supreme Winners: – Mind Your Temper with their ‘Speculoos‘ and Lucid’s ‘Chuncho‘. Plant milk chocolates are becoming ever more popular and the range and quality is increasing every year, says organizer and media spokesperson, Claire…
Read More

SkyCity Appoints Daly GM for Convention Center –

SkyCity Entertainment Group has promoted Prue Daly to the role of General Manager for Auckland’s New Zealand International Convention Center (NZICC), as the company gears up for its grand opening in 2025. Daly has extensive experience in the global business events and hospitality industries, including Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Center (MCEC), Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Accor, and also serves as a board member for Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA). Currently, Daly is NZICC’s Director of Sales, responsible for marketing and selling the convention center to domestic and international markets. In her new role as general manager, Daly says she…
Read More