Cash-free trial gears up for Taste of Tasmania test

THE  annual Taste of Tasmania will begin a new chapter when it starts tomorrow — going cashless to help cover costs.

Cascade Brewery's Lisa Kean prepares tables for advertising decals in Princes Wharf for Taste of Tasmania. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

THE  annual Taste of Tasmania will begin a new chapter when it starts tomorrow — going cashless to help cover costs.

The event provides a $39 million cash injection into the state’s economy but costs the Hobart City Council almost $1 million to stage.

So at this year’s event patrons can use their credit/debit or load a special Taste card with cash and each transaction will incur a 10 per cent surcharge, to be paid by the stallholder to the council.

“We’re working towards a zero cost to the community for this event,” Alderman Damon Thomas said.

“For the state of Tasmania we’ve estimated previously that it’s a $39 million cash inj­ection which is why we’ve looked to the Government to become more of a player in this festival.”

The Taste will run from tomorrow to January 3 at Princes Wharf 1 and surrounds, with extra seating and shade and an extended area.

About 100,000 people att­ended last year’s Taste.

There are 63 stalls, including 17 first-time stallholders, but applications were down on previous years.

“Some people decided not to participate this year for any number of reasons but we’ve got a very, very strong cast of people getting ready for the Taste spectacular,” Ald Thomas said

The road will be closed a day earlier to get more infrastructure in.

“There’s still a perception that you won’t be able to get a seat but if you go outside and look at some of the shaded seating we will have, it just makes it an easy family event,” Ald Thomas said.

This year’s event will fea­ture the biggest line-up of ent­ertainment ever staged including headline act the Black Sorrows.

Ald Thomas said the decision to go cashless came after extensive consultation with stallholders.

“We had a choice, either that [cashless system] or charge an entry fee,” he said.

“Stallholders said they would prefer to make it a cashless system and take a clip from the gross sales paid back to the council for organising and managing the event.”

Ald Thomas admitted the cashless system was not communicated as well as it could have been.

“We could have done it better than we did. Especially at the start when we talked about the Taste card,” he said.

He said once the Commonwealth Bank came on board with the Albert system they had a clearer idea of how it would work.

“We’ve tested it and tested it and we’ve got people on-site making sure no-one has a problem,” he said.

Patrons use their bank card to payWave or put in a pin.

Cascade Brewery’s Lisa Kean prepares tables for advertising decals in Princes Wharf 1 for the Taste of Tasmania. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

Fish Frenzy manager Gary Shepherd said they would be serving 1.5 tonnes of squid and three tonnes of fish over the week.

He said he liked the idea of the cashless system.

“The regular punters who come through all the time won’t have to worry about cash and we don’t have to worry about change and handling cash and food, it’s a positive all around,” he said.

Devil’s Corner winery manager Will Adkins said their Taste stall would feature a 3D experience promoting their new East Coast cellar door.

He said he expected to sell a few thousand bottles during the festival.

Commenting on the Mercury website, readers had mixed views:

Yvonne: “I hope they have given their cashless system ext­ensive testing and have backup. A system crash would be rather catastrophic.”

Ray: “I just see it as an elitist roping off of land from the common people who should have every right to walk around in these areas without being expected to pay for the privilege.”

Brendon: “A clumsy and ill thought out greedy plan to maximise HCC profit at the expense of real business people and ruin a once great Hobart tradition.”

Jane: “Well we are a family of four and we won’t be going this year because its cashless ... ”