22 Sep 2025
Cafe calls for pathway to residency for overseas hospo workers
The owners of Wellington's Chocolate Fish cafe want a clear pathway to residency for hospitality workers from overseas. In an open letter to the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, they say hospo work holds little interest to kiwi job seekers other than as supplementary income for students. While they commend the government's work to bring more tourists and events to Aotearoa they say the very industry that supports and serves the tourists lacks experienced workers. Chocolate Fish cafe owner operator John Pennington spoke to Lisa Owen.