Hospitality industry records highest revenue month since pandemic despite rising costs

Queenslanders are choosing dining out over saving money, as recent data shows the hospitality industry is the best it’s been since the start of the pandemic, despite rising costs.

Dining out is at an all time high since the Covid-19 pandemic started, according to new revenue figures, however restaurant owners say the industry continues to face “inflationary pressures”.

New data from Lightspeed found that Queensland restaurants, cafes and bars are bucking the winter trend with a surging number of patrons as the hospitality industry had its best performing month since the pandemic started.

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Figures showed growth across the sector when comparing July 2022 with July 2021 as bars were up 39.5 per cent, restaurants up 31.5 per cent and cafes up 19 per cent.

There was also a significant spike from June to July this year with bars up 22.4 per cent, restaurants 14 per cent and cafes 8.8 per cent, which more than make up for previous month-on-month losses.

After more than two years of the pandemic, the data found that Queenslanders and out of state visitors appeared more hesitant to restrict their lives, and as a result were more inclined to pay higher prices to enjoy the experience of eating out.

But head chef and co-owner at Paddington restaurant Naim, Vince Estacio, said despite the increase in revenue, price hikes have pushed him to “manipulate” his business model to avoid passing costs onto the customer.

“There’s things we’ve done to reduce the loss. One is being smart with the menu, we’re looking at what’s really affordable and sustainable and we’ll stick to those items and change the menu around,” he said.

Head chef and co-owner at Paddington's Naim, Vince Estacio, says the industry is still facing "inflationary pressures". Picture: Nigel Hallett.

“As a chef, it’s about reimagining what we can do without losing quality. I’ve been thinking way more in the past six weeks than I have ever.”

Mr Estacio said the restaurant had seen prices rise “across the board” including in fresh produce, minimum wage increases and all non-consumables from tea towels to machine servicing and parts.

“I’ve seen a lot of restaurants increase prices or add a surcharge, we feel that option is a temporary fix,” he said.

“You’ll get an increase in revenue, but I think that long term, customers aren’t dumb they’re going to see that everyone is increasing prices and they might not come back as frequently.”