December 9, 2021 • 7 mins
A cafe in Wellington, Elements, has decided to pivot from sit-in dining to takeaways under the Traffic Light System.
Under the new system, hospitality operators have to require customers to show their vaccine passports if they are going to have people inside their cafes.
Elements has decided not to do that and instead operate as takeaway only, while also running a small retail store.
But owner Angela Slaughter says it is not an 'anti-vax' decision but rather a moral and financial one.
"We have families where the parents are vaccinated and one of the children is 13 so isn't yet. That whole family is no longer able to come into our restaurant"
Slaughter did not want to shut the door on people and told Nick Mills it was also about staffing levels.
"I don't have an A and B team. If they are all off for seven days, how do we open without them around?"
Slaughter says financial certainty was a factor too.
"We looked at the long-term picture and thought it could be really rocky in terms of those practicalities as well."
LISTEN ABOVE
Under the new system, hospitality operators have to require customers to show their vaccine passports if they are going to have people inside their cafes.
Elements has decided not to do that and instead operate as takeaway only, while also running a small retail store.
But owner Angela Slaughter says it is not an 'anti-vax' decision but rather a moral and financial one.
"We have families where the parents are vaccinated and one of the children is 13 so isn't yet. That whole family is no longer able to come into our restaurant"
Slaughter did not want to shut the door on people and told Nick Mills it was also about staffing levels.
"I don't have an A and B team. If they are all off for seven days, how do we open without them around?"
Slaughter says financial certainty was a factor too.
"We looked at the long-term picture and thought it could be really rocky in terms of those practicalities as well."
LISTEN ABOVE
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