Somewhere in the back of a Christchurch café, there's a clipboard held together with grease and blind optimism. It's the same one they’ve used since the dawn of brunch: table numbers in biro, last week's schedule scrawled over in highlighter, and a food safety log no one's signed since Tuesday.

You’ve probably felt it already: rising costs, vanishing margins, a staff roster that looks more like a weekly wishlist than a schedule. It’s not just you. According to recent reports, hospitality is now the third most at-risk sector for business receivership in New Zealand. Cafes, restaurants, bars, and caterers are going under — and not just the badly run ones.