Hold the crayfish, bring the bangers

The recession has prompted an about-turn in eating habits with Kiwis' once-indulgent dining lifestyle quickly being replaced by a penchant for takeaways and supermarket shelves, Coriolis Research retail analyst Tim Morris said.

"In a downturn, people always trade down. That means fewer working lunches, fewer mid-week meals out. On the flipside, in principle it means growth for fast-food chains and supermarkets.

"We've moved into the traditional post-Christmas rain shadow when business is slow and money is tight. It's more of a drought though this time round and we'll certainly start seeing more liquidations across the retail and hospitality space."

The closure of plush Wellington inner-city restaurant Copita late last year highlighted the hardship felt by restaurant owners with rising wage costs and escalating rent forcing closure at the popular Featherston St business.

Although analytical data lags behind real time, Statistics New Zealand sales figures for the year to August 2008 showed that the amount of cash people spent on restaurant dining had remained static.

"It's too early to tell whether there might be an increase in closures," Hospitality Association national operations manager Scott Necklen said. "An anecdotal view is that people are thinking twice before ordering three courses or that second bottle of wine."

Mr Necklen says the trade faces tougher times ahead, with holes in future tourism bookings likely to bite hard during Easter and the winter. "It's a bit of a double-whammy." Fewer visitors meant fewer bookings during Easter and winter, and fewer New Zealanders were going out, he said. "It's certainly tough out there."

Although restaurants have started to witness an exodus of customers, queues are growing at fast-food counters and supermarket tills. Progressive Enterprises, which owns supermarket chains Foodtown, Countdown and Woolworths, said fresh produce and more economic labels such as Home Brand and Select were experiencing excellent growth some products in the high double digits.

"Just about everything that relates to a meal around the barbie is really selling well. An outstanding seller is sausages. Seafood is also popular. Customers are focused on basic, good value for money," a Progressive spokeswoman said.

Despite the slowdown, restaurants will remain a significant part of New Zealand's fabric, Restaurant Association president Mike Egan said.

Contrary to reports, the owner of four Wellington outlets including Arbitrageur Wine Room and Osteria del Toro and one Auckland eatery says "business is great", with revenue up 10 per cent on last year. Although people would always want to go out and eat at restaurants, Mr Egan said restaurateurs could not take customers for granted.

"At the moment they will be looking for the biggest bang for their buck. If businesses sit back, people will take their entertainment dollar elsewhere."

- © Fairfax NZ News