Restaurant Culture: Tipping and Organics

Since coming to New Zealand, I have noticed an apparent focus on organically grown food. Additionally, I’ve found myself trying a variety of different restaurants, and one location in particular allowed me to have a pleasant conversation regarding both the popularity of organically grown food in New Zealand, and what it is like to work in such a space.

Federal & Wolfe is a café not far from our hotel. Upon visiting their website, one is greeted by the slogan “Amazing organic food made fresh daily.” I can definitely attest to this sentiment. Of the three times that I have eaten there, all three of my meals have been absolutely delicious.

During my third visit to the café, I was lucky enough to have a brief discussion with one of the servers. I was already somewhat aware of the focus on organically grown food, after seeing advertisements for farmers markets and going to one in Wellington. Additionally, I knew from their website that the café specialized in organically grown food.

I began the discussion by inquiring about the food. To my pleasure, the server confirmed that all of the ingredients in the food are grown organically, and somewhat locally. I believe she said that all of them were grown in New Zealand. The success of such an establishment is definitely not surprising when one considers that in 2015 a leading organic food producer in New Zealand, called Ceres, doubled in size over the course of the last five years (Wimley paragraph 2).

I was also curious about the practice of tipping. During the past two summers, I have worked at a seafood restaurant, where I made the vast majority of my money through tips. When I brought this up to the server she laughed and said that the practice of tipping had always made her uncomfortable. According to her tipping is more common on the North Island, particularly on the in Auckland, than on the South Island, where she is originally from. It would seem that her statements where essentially accurate based both upon my personal observations, and a New Zealand Herald survey.

Prior to my arrival in Auckland, I cannot recall seeing a tip jar in any of the restaurants that I visited. However, after visiting a few coffee shops and restaurants, I saw that things operated a bit differently here than in Wellington or Rotorua. In the aforementioned in newspaper article, the writer establishes that of 573 servers based in Auckland the average number of tips received in a week was fifty-three. In Wellington and Wairapapa the average was thirty-six tips among the 244 wait staffers surveyed. Additionally, in towns on the South Island, such as Canterbury the average was 26 tips per week (Morton paragraphs 4-5). As one can plainly see, the prevalence of the practice increases as one moves northward. So it seems appropriate that the author of article has dubbed Auckland the “tipping capital” (Morton paragraph 1).

When I asked if she made a “living wage” she replied that she did, which was good to hear. She asked in reply to my question something to the effect of: “What do you do if you don’t have a good night/don’t make many tips.” My response was something to the effect of “You’re kind of screwed.” At any rate, she seemed just as surprised and confused by the United States’ practice of making restaurant employees subsist on their tips, as I expressed at hearing that they did not receive tips. The living wage is something of a matter of contention in New Zealand and a recent article, also from the New Zealand Herald mentions that the living wage in New Zealand as of 2015 is estimated to be $19.25 (Collins paragraph 1). In addition, one-third of New Zealanders make less than the living wage (Collins paragraph 11).

It was nice to hear from my server at Federal & Wolfe, she and I ended up having a very pleasant discussion about the tipping procedures in New Zealand. While she did say that receiving tips made her uncomfortable, she also said that she usually saved them in a jar so that she could treat children to desserts, or help people out when they come up short at the register. She also said that she and her co-workers often divide up the tip jar at the end of the night and go drinking together, which definitely sounds like a good use of extra money.

Overall, Federal & Wolfe proved to be a place that allowed me to explore two aspects of New Zealand restaurant culture, tipping and organic food. If you’re ever in Auckland and need a bite to eat, I definitely recommend trying out Federal & Wolfe!

Works Cited

Collins, Simon. “Living wage estimate rises to $19.25/hour.” New Zealand Herald 24 Feb. 2015. Web. <http://bit.ly/1RMuFhf>

Morton, Jamie. “When diners hit tipping point: Where Kiwis are most likely to pay extra.” New Zealand Herald 9 Feb. 2015. Web. <http://bit.ly/1U1CDAo>

Wimley, Alexandra. “New Zealand organics sees unprecedented growth.” Element Magazine 21 Sept. 2015. Web. <http://bit.ly/205Js7I>