Aussies Memo to PM Stop Swanning Around the Globe
“Anthony Albanese has left the hospitality industry dying of hunger and has certainly not focused attention on the cost of doing business,” said Wes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association, and said that restaurants were hurting due to energy prices and uncertainty around migration rules”
“ The hospitality industry would have expected the prime minister to be at bat rather than gallivanting around making deals that may or may not come to fruition”
Fine Food Australia Announces Partnership with The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association
Fine Food Australia, the country’s leading trade show for the foodservice and hospitality industry, is proud to announce its partnership with the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association (ARCA).
Launched in May, ARCA is an instrumental voice for positive change in the restaurant and cafe segment of the Accommodation and Foodservice industry.
Council slammed over ‘out of touch’ $21,000 fee for struggling industry: ‘Read the room’
A Sydney council has been called out for an expensive fee handed to hospitality venues that want to have outdoor dining. As the summer months approach, restaurants, cafes, pubs and other establishments will be full of customers wanting to have a drink or bite to eat outside.
But if you’re in the Northern Beaches Council, that privilege comes with a hefty price tag, with one cafe being charged $21,000 for the year to have seats and tables outside. Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association CEO Wes Lambert told Yahoo Finance so many venues are on the brink of collapse and this is just another nail in the industry’s coffin.
Melbourne menu prices soar but restaurants struggling to turn a profit
Australian Restaurants and Cafe Association chief Wes Lambert warned customers would need to adapt to inflated prices as the economy recovered.
“Once the economy begins to recover, restaurants and cafes around Australia may need to increase their prices to survive, as according to IBISWorld data, restaurant profits are averaging 4 per cent,” he said.
“And if diners want their favourite cafe to stay open, they may have to foot the bill.”
RBA puts payment industry on notice to protect shops, restaurants
It was a similar view from the Australian Restaurant and Café Association. “Our fear is the government will ban surcharging – passing those merchant fees on – but not stop banks and payment service providers charging restaurants and cafés the same percentages,” said its chief executive, Wes Lambert, warning of “tremendous unintended consequences”.
Small businesses facing higher card acceptance costs
Wes Lambert is the CEO of the Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association, an industry group representing hospitality businesses nationwide.
Speaking to SmartCompany, Lambert says any move to ban surcharging should come with reduced card acceptance fees for “mom and pop” businesses.
“We can’t have the balance of the scales go back to the banks, against small business, to save consumers,” he says.
“What we don’t want is this to just end up as a menu price increase, which then goes into inflation.”
Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s ‘long lunch’ tax reform plan to lure workers back into the city
Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association chief executive Wes Lambert said reforming the FBT would make a “huge difference” when it came to getting more people into the city’s restaurants, bars and cafes.
“This is a great … campaign we can really get behind whether it’s a long lunch or drinks after work, this would be a big boost to the hospitality sector,” he said.
ABC Drive Melbourne-Junior Rates
ABC Drive-from 1:36
In response to “same job, same pay”, we would argue that in the restaurant and cafe segment of accommodation & food service, that it’s not the same job, 18, 19 and 20 year olds, especially those working in the kitchen, haven’t built up that experience and the process and expertise of working in a kitchen and front of house. And that takes time.
ABC Radio National-The Money
Australian’s love affair with paying by card – and not cash – has now surpassed 90% of transactions. But each time we tap our card, the merchant incurs a cost that’s passed onto you, the customer, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.
As part of a Review of Retail Payments Regulation, the RBA is expecting the industry – the banks, card companies and payment terminal companies – to cut processing costs by using what’s called ‘least cost routing’.
Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Consulting Company, Payment Services
Wes Lambert CPA, FGIA, CAE, MAICD, CEO of the Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association
Hospitality industry calls Victoria’s new gas laws misleading
Victoria’s hospitality is fighting back against the Allan government’s new laws around gas, which they say are designed to phase out gas by stealth.
Restaurants and café owners believe the move by the government could send more businesses to the wall.
The Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association called the move “deeply disappointing”.
“Without proper compensation or support, thousands of hospitality businesses now face potential closure, massive losses, or costly conversions to electric appliances,” chief executive Wes Lambert said.
“These changes could devastate Victoria’s hospitality sector, which is already struggling to survive.”