In all of New Zealand, Auckland’s food scene seems to be a thriving business landscape, but why does it seem so?

Newly opened rooftop bar and wineshop, Queens is another example of a successful hospitality venture and that is why it makes sense for Idealog to go to Co-founder Callum O’Brien and pose the question.

Why is New Zealand’s hospitality industry so vibrant and thriving in this economy?

It is probably hard to say the whole industry is thriving at the moment as there are definitely some businesses out there doing it tough. I think the ones doing well are those who are constantly evolving and changing to offer consumers new and interesting experiences. There are always new concepts popping up which draw on inspiration from so many different parts of the world which is exciting. With this being the case, venues need to keep things fresh and interesting in regards to fitouts, menus, entertainment etc. Consumers are spoilt for choice here in New Zealand so it drives operators to keep innovating and staying on top of trends.

What do you think holds importance when it comes to running a hospitality business?

I think more than ever consumers are demanding excellence in what they spend their money on. Money is tight so people are more selective on what they spend their dollars on. We often talk about the ‘experience gap’ in our business – where you can buy a beer at the supermarket and drink it at home for $2 or you can buy one at a bar for $14. There is a $12 experience gap that we as hospitality operators need to close for the consumer to feel value. We do that with exceptional service, exceptional food and drink, an exceptional view and exceptional entertainment. This all adds up to the consumer having an exceptional experience and coming back again and again.

How can a business stay afloat in this current state of the world?

The key is being able to move quickly with changes. Our operations guys keep a really close watch on wage costs and cost of goods since it has become harder to make the margins that we did a few years back. Keeping these all really tight and under control is absolutely key as every percent we improve on these directly affects our bottom line profit.

Read more: Bossi: How a family business became the it-spot in Auckland

What have you learnt over your past ventures and what has been placed in Queens?

Team culture is massive. We have always placed big importance on our team culture as we know that happy staff who are part of a great team lead to great service. We are really selective about who works in the business as these are the people representing us on the restaurant floor. Simple gestures, like daily staff meals prepared in-house, play a big role in fostering a great team culture.

Since the opening, Queens has become extremely popular, where do you think the success was able to come from?

The location is obviously second to none. The views never get old up there and there really is no better spot to sit on a sunny afternoon. One of the things we really focused on throughout the whole process though was not to 100% rely on the view.  Many rooftop spots around the world boast incredible locations, but rely solely on the view, delivering sub-par concepts and offerings because they know people will come for the scenery regardless. We worked through the development of queens with the view that we should create a concept that would wow people even if the view wasn’t there. Through an outstanding food and drink menu and a solid line of vinyl DJ’s I believe we have nailed that. The best views in NZ are just an added bonus!