Waiariki drives push to lift cafe standards | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Waiariki Institute of Technology is on a mission to improve hospitality standards in Rotorua.

Chief executive Dr Pim Borren says there's room for improvement in Rotorua and, as Waiariki is the city's biggest tertiary education provider, he considers it the institute's responsibility.

"We train [most of] these people - it's our job to give them the skills."

Dr Borren's main focus is ensuring people get great coffee and he wants to push students who are great baristas.

The institute has been sending out "mystery shoppers" to test the coffee and service in Rotorua's cafes. Those showing consistent excellence have been given a special Waiariki award.

Waiariki began working on the project last year and Dr Borren said reinforcing excellence with consistency was key. It wasn't enough to produce one great coffee - it needed to be great all the time, he said.

Five local cafes have received excellence awards so far - Urbano, Essence, The Third Place, Lime and Relish.

Dr Borren said the institute planned to get to all cafes in Rotorua. "I've got a long list I want to visit."

Waiariki barista tutor Tim Ebeling said he had been quite impressed with the cafes so far.

"They've all been pretty good."

Lime owner Judi Hepburn was "simply delighted" to have received an award.

"I think it's great people are appreciating what we do."

Mrs Hepburn said it was important cafes strived for excellence, especially because Rotorua was a tourist destination.

Dr Borren said the coffee awards were not just about Waiariki, with other barista trainers like Career Network also doing a great job of lifting industry standards.

Fix, Zippys, Indigo and Nandos were among local residents' favourite places to get coffee.

Deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell preferred tea but said he enjoyed the occasional coffee.

His top picks were Nandos and Lime and said Rotorua's hotels made nice coffee.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh named Capers as his favourite coffee place and said special touches like a nice design or a little cinnamon on top added to good service.

Shop Rotorua co-ordinator Cath Weston enjoys coffee from Indigo and Fix cafes.

"But there aren't many places in Rotorua who don't do good coffees."

Mrs Weston said friendly service with a smile added to the coffee experience.

Career Network barista tutor Judy Bowen said handing out awards might keep cafes on their toes.

"There is a lot of competition these days so [they] need to be up with the play."

Rydges Rotorua executive assistant manager Sally Phipps said while Rotorua's hospitality industry was good, it could do with a little push.

"It's good, but it could be better."

She said some fine-tuning was needed. One of the main issues she encountered was a lack of passion from younger people in the industry.

"It has an impact, if someone has a bad day, it shows," she said.

To be successful in hospitality, Mrs Phipps said a person needed to love what they did.

Rotorua bar owner and Hospitality Association of New Zealand board member Reg Hennessey believes Rotorua's hospitality standards aren't bad but said hospitality in general always needed work.

"You always need to keep improving."

Mr Hennessey said one of the city's main weaknesses was the trading hours, especially in winter.

"With the Rugby World Cup only a few months away, there's still more work to be done."

While he liked the idea of lifting coffee standards in Rotorua, Mr Hennessey said people needed to look at the big picture.

"It's about the whole package."