Talking Point: Back to basics for a better Taste

In an effort to keep things simple we should dismantle the Summer Festival and go right back to its original format — the best of Tasmanian produce over five days, says Marti Zucco.

SHOWCASE: Crowds at the Taste of Tasmania, December 29. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

THE COVID catastrophe has impacted many events in 2020.

For 2020/21 only a crystal ball could provide answers. The Hobart City Council report points out clearly there is no intent of not having an event. Politics has created hysteria.

Many in the hospitality industry are suffering financially and I am no exception.

The Taste of Tasmania provides a needed boost. In the current environment it’s needed more than ever. In uncharted waters we are being battered by a freak storm.

The Tasmanian hospitality industry is sinking faster than the Titanic and we have a blame game being directed towards government. This is illogical.

The pathway forward to salvage as much of “an” event as possible is on the cards but what may lay in the depths of the ocean of this furious beast called COVID- 19 is the question.

We all want our lives back compounding financial losses, isolation driving us to mental madness and ratepayers must also be taken into account.

Taste Day 5: New Years Day Taste of Tasmania crowd. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Any positives? We have adapted. We have seen dramatic shifts in the manner we do things and interact. Businesses that survive will re-evaluate. The Taste has an opportunity.

The Taste love affair has witnessed its evolution, growth, changes, controversy and further changes. Now it’s time to re-evaluate.

The birth was to keep yachties and tourists in Hobart before and after New Year and to promote the best of Tasmanian produce. This was going along fine. The HCC then developed the Hobart Summer Festival, a two month festival of activities across the city from December 28 to February 28.

The cost became too prohibitive and was eventually attached to the Taste which had mostly buskers.

Adding the summer festival thrust the Taste into a new dimension with big name artists, celebrity chefs, cooking shows and wine appreciation, resulting in cost blowouts costing ratepayers millions. It was the inclusion of the Summer Festival not stallholders to blame.

Elected members sought “cost neutrality” because stallholders were making a so-called fortune from their hard work of hours upon hours and they were forced to succumb to a ransom tax of a percentage of turnover.

BUSKER MAGIC: Bodane Hatton. Picture: KIM EISZELE

There were far better ways to raise funds. No cost neutrality was delivered. It was a disaster. Well that didn’t work the political thought was, let’s throw more money at it. Political interference in the Taste had caused so much controversy.

A serious rethink is now the best option without political grandstanding. To simply blame government demonstrates the lack of understanding. Attorney-General Elise Archer made a valid point to consult more widely” and that is a far better approach I fully endorse.

John Caire and I have discussed the Taste at length. Its conception, growth, evolution and many challenges along the way. After an association of more than 30 years, it’s time to go back to its roots.

Dismantle the Summer Festival and go right back to its original format. The best of Tasmanian produce. Set a minimum of 70 per cent Tasmanian food products with the right blend of wines and our other world-renowned beverages.

As far as entertainment goes, yes, you guessed it, buskers of course pre-screened with allocations. Those were the days my friends, a good tune for a song.

Sometimes simple is best with the exception of New Year’s Eve to continue with a closed event, as has always has been the case paid for with a premium by the punters.

Regarding funding, HCC would reduce its accordingly delivering “an original Taste”. We should have an appropriate partnership with state government and industry stakeholders with a maximum of a five-day event.

The continuous debate on an entry fee so ratepayers of Hobart do not bear the brunt of funding can be resolved once and for all. The event has many public holidays and weekend wage rates to overcome.

The HCC has expert reports on this and any manual system has a huge cost. With so many new technologies a solution can be found. The HCC would need a one off investment into the best technology for an “entry or user fee” principle.

Options are:

CREDIT OR DEBIT ENTRY FEE turnstiles, so people can use the same card to re-enter without another fee being charged on the same day. There are similar systems that may be adapted for the Taste one fee for the day.

USER PAYS system whereby the transaction will automatically attract a percentage. It’s not an ATM surcharge it’s a “user pay entry fee charge” This allows freedom of movement for those who want to come back and forth as many times as they wish.

THE TASTE CARD which was recommended to the HCC by a leading events consultant but collects dust in the archives. A report commissioned by council to find a solution to cost neutrality sits on a shelf. And we wonder why there are calls for council amalgamations.

The latest mischief has seen the blame game to the total scrapping of the Taste. One only needs to read the General Manager’s report. It is as clear as day and highlights reasons why the Taste may not proceed in its current format for 2020/2021. It seeks authority to develop an event according to whatever restrictions maybe in place.

I invite people to read the general manager’s report in full.

The Taste as we know it will be not happening. An event between Christmas and New Year is on the cards. What it is is yet to be determined and once we overcome the COVID-19 regulations it will happen.

Hobart alderman Marti Zucco is in the hospitality industry and was a shareholder and chairman of the Taste of Tasmania.