Take sandwiches when visiting the Coromandel

[MotherBear]

The fish'n'chip shop that turns over $10,000 a day
Sunday January 07, 2007
By Jonathan Marshall

Tis the season to make money from holidaymakers. A Coromandel fish and chip shop is turning over up to $10,000 a day as holiday hotspot retailers cash in on the influx of holidaymakers.

Kiwis holidaying in hotspots on the Coromandel Peninsula are paying top dollar for food and fuel because shop owners have only one month to make most of their annual income.

Despite being open all year round, Pauanui Takeaways and Ice Cream Parlour earns 75 per cent of its income between December and January. Proprietors Vicki and Craig Jones say on their best summer's day, they clock up $10,000 on the till.

This is helped by charging a little extra for ice cream and takeaways. "We get everything shipped in and it costs a bit more so we have to pass that cost on to the tourists," Craig Jones says. "A lot of people don't understand how it works at these beach places. In Auckland it is a competitive market but here it is selective. They make a good living all year round but here we have to do it in a few weeks."

During winter it is just Vicki deep frying hotdogs and selling lollies, but when the Herald on Sunday visits, the whole family is mucking in.

Drive half an hour north and you'll be told it's because of the "quality of the bean" that you are being charged 50 per cent more for your cup of coffee than you would expect to pay at some of Auckland's swankiest hang-outs.

At Crisp Cafe and Restaurant in Whitianga, it will cost you $4.50 for a 400ml takeaway flat white. Owner Richard Lunn isn't worried though, as he's had no complaints. "It's a premium organic blend made in New Plymouth. It's won awards," he says from behind the bar of his newly opened beachfront eatery.

"During the last week we went through 40 kilos of the bean and there are 30 more arriving tomorrow. I haven't had one bad comment about the coffee, or the price."

The Chocolate Pretzel in Pauanui charges $4 for a double shot flat white. Asked why, the manager replied: "Because we can."

Holidaymakers like Pamela and Bruce Smudge from Hamilton say they don't mind paying a little extra while away on holiday. "Sure $4.50 is a bit much for a cuppa, but when you only go away once a year it is quite maintainable," Bruce says.

At Ferry Landing Store on Purangi Rd at Cooks Beach, across the waterway from Whitianga, filling up the family wagon with unleaded 91 will cost you $1.44 a litre, compared with $1.38 in Auckland. "We don't really get any complaints apart from the odd tightarse," says shop owner Kevin Blank. He says he pockets around three cents a litre profit.

Prescott's Garages in Hikuai, Tairua is even more pricey. On Friday, unleaded 91 was selling for $1.55.9 - 8.3 per cent more expensive than at the popular family beachspot of Whangamata where it's $1.42.9.

At Ocean Curves Beach Store in Whiritoa, owner Bill Doyle is surprised that on a hot summer's day he can sell 300 cups of coffee at $3.

"For a small place like this it is pretty impressive. But we keep our prices the same all year round because when the holidaymakers go home we need the locals to keep coming back," he said.