There’s no doubt that the hospitality industry has had it tough these last few years, but one Taupo local is here to change that. “TreatNZ is here to build the buzz in local eateries again”, says founder Fleur Wolstenholme. At 22 she created, designed and built Treat NZ in late 2020. In a nutshell, Treat NZ is a free platform for local eateries to advertise deals, events and specials on, and a one-stop shop for yummy deals for locals!
Now spanning across Taupo, Rotorua, Hamilton and launching in Auckland on the 1st February. Let’s take a look at how Treat NZ is helping local restaurants and makes dining out easier for Kiwis.
If you’re in Taupo this Summer, you can find deals every day of the week like 2 for 1 brekkie at The Cozy Corner & The Storehouse or 2 for 1 mains at Ploughmans & Tejano, to list a few.
And, using the savings calculator on the Treat NZ website, if you usually dine out once a week, you’ll save $1536 a year with these deals! These local restaurants offer deals to help make dining out easier and to encourage people to support local when they dine out.
“The world’s changed from the days of writing your deals on a blackboard, and for some restaurateurs, we know that their forte isn’t in social media or marketing. So we take away that stress and give them an awesome online presence to drive customers through the door, so they can focus on what they do best – creating memorable experiences in their eatery.” Fleur says excitedly.
On average, restaurants do over 60% of turnover on Friday & Saturday nights alone (Restaurant Association NZ), that means there’s a lot of down time. But during this down time, the lights are still on, the kitchen’s ready to rumble, staff are waiting, the only thing missing is the customers.
And it’s true, eating out is expensive, particularly post-covid. We’re all watching our spending habits a bit more! But this is why Treat NZ is a real win-win! Hungry locals can enjoy local hospitality without breaking the bank and restaurants enjoy more bookings on down times and free promotion!
So how did a 22-year-old IT post-grad get into this? “I grew up with hospitality always there, and worked throughout the Taupo scene as a duty manager in Element Bar and then in Replete Cafe whilst studying web-technologies, so it kind of just merges both experiences”. Seeing the opportunity for something within the food-tech space, Fleur started research, signing up local restaurants and coding up the website in her spare time. “Yeah, it was definitely a challenge, but because it’s truly helping local restaurants and giving people a chance to dine out, it’s rewarding to do and good fun meeting everyone”.
And restaurants are loving it too! Unlike many platforms with hidden fees or harsh binding contracts, Treat NZ works fully for the restaurant. As Camilla, owner of Cozy Corner Taupo puts it, ‘Discounting has never been included in my business model, however I was so impressed with their social media and strategy that I wanted in! Beautifully presented campaigns, supportive of the businesses they advertise as well as our industry as a whole. The support has been unreal and we will continue to work with Treat NZ.” Likewise Andrew, owner and head chef at Hare & Copper Eatery, Turangi gives testimony, “Treat NZ not only gives the general public some fantastic dining opportunities, but they give a huge social media push for the businesses involved too. 110% recommend Treat.NZ”.
What about the competition? “I’ve been asked this a lot, I always say a town can have 2 Italian restaurants, so it’s not a big deal! But I also like to think that unlike our key competitors, who strictly avoid the atmosphere, we try to build it. Our target audiences are those that might stay around for a few drinks with their discounted meal etc, we ‘build the buzz’, plus we advertise all in-house deals, special and events, we offer industry photography deals, do “love local” feature write-ups and are only for locally-owned eateries, which is super cool too”.
So, if you’re looking to dine out, look no further. Support local, save some cash and ‘treat yourself’ in Taupo, Rotorua, Hamilton and now Auckland!
