Cafes are continuing to see the profits squeezed.

Sales in the hospitality sector have increased 1.4 percent in the past year, according to just-released figures from the Restaurant Association.

But sales for cafes and restaurants only rose 0.3 percent.

Coffee Club Director Brad Jacobs told Ryan Bridge they're having to absorb rising costs to remain competitive.

He says the minimum wage has gone up much faster than the price of coffee over the past decade.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday 15th of October 2025, The speaker's set out plans to crack down on standards after Oriini Kaipara's maiden speech, political commentator, Liam Hehir shares his thoughts.

The hospitality sector's hit record sales of $15.9 billion, Franchise NZ Chairperson and Coffee Club co-owner Brad Jacobs tells Ryan revenue doesn't always mean profit.

A report by the Education Review Office shows primary-aged kids are not only getting better at English and Maths, but they're more excited about doing it, Kaitao Intermediate School Principal Phil Palfrey tells Ryan how big of a change he's seen in his school.

Plus, UK/ Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on an Afghan man who came to the UK on a small boat and threatened to kill Nigel Farage, being jailed for five years.

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There’s a warning for Hipkins as he plots higher taxes for kiwi businesses, investors and savers.

It comes from across the ditch.

Albanese’s been having problems getting his super tax plan across the line, despite having a majority in Parliament.

The Opposition to it has come not just from the usual suspects but also former PM and labour stalwart Paul Keating. Even the Unions cried boohoo.

So he’s had to U-turn on unrealised gains, which have always been a stupid thing to try and tax.

How can you pay tax on money you haven’t earned?

The Greens want to do this. David Parker wanted to it. Te Pati Māori wants it.

And Debbie said at the weekend that she and Chippy are on the same page when it comes to a wealth tax.

He denies this, but does anyone believe a guy who won’t tell you what he’s really thinking or what he really stands for?

Until he rules something in or out, he looks like a guy plotting in secret. He and Barbara are squirrelled away with an abacus and a calculator quietly conjuring up a new and inventive revenue streams.

We’re left wondering whose business, whose property is ripe for the picking.

The warning from Australia is pretty night and day, if you’re going to tax something, and that’s a big if here at home, but if you’re going to do it, you’d better make sure it’s a realised gain and not a tax on imaginary, on-paper earnings.

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A peace summit is now underway in Egypt following the release of Israeli and Palestinian hostages.

The summit was attended by US President Donald Trump, who said that ‘the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace.’

Former Chief of Staff for Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign Matt Terrill told Ryan Bridge that there is still a lot of work to do before peace can finally be declared.

‘You have a great opportunity here to forge lasting peace, but this is a peace deal. More work needs to be done.’

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A growing range of international visitor markets means New Zealand's on track to beat pre-Covid tourism numbers.

Overseas arrivals reached 92-percent of pre-pandemic numbers in August.

That's up from 87-percent in July.

Board of Air Line Representatives Executive Director Cath O'Brien told Ryan Bridge increased airline capacity from the Americas, Singapore, Hong Kong markets means we're seeing more than just Aussies.

She hopes this is meaningful for tourism businesses who have waited a long time to see this recovery.

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I've got some numbers for this morning.

QV House Price Index for September quarter.

Guess what? Going backwards. Auckland leading the fall.

Homes are worth an average of 1.1% less. Auckland's 2.5% less.

And how does that make you feel, really?

Most homeowners won't care because they're not trying to sell.

For those who are, it's depressing.

Now first home buyers are cranking - a quarter of new mortgages went to first home buyers in the first half of the year.

So we've got to ask ourselves - is this really what we want?

When the numbers are bad for owners they're good for would-be-owners.

We're forever complaining about the price of property, until we need to sell.

So if this is the new normal, we'd better get used to it.

It's interesting to look at what's selling. We had another developer - apartments - go bust in Auckland yesterday.

Have a look at the apartments, even the nice ones, they were building.

Is that really somewhere you'd want to live?

Guess what's not selling? These buildings without carparks.

This idea that somebody will want to buy a Shoebox and catch a bus is clearly not working out - they're taking the longest to sell.

Turns out people also like privacy. Who would have thought?

The bigger story here is that prices are lower and deep down, even though we say we want to fix the housing crisis, most people aren't happy about it.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Tuesday 14th of October 2025, Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt for a peace summit, Matt Terrill, former Chief of staff for Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign, tells Ryan what Trump will need to do next to keep the peace deal successful.

Australia is helping push us towards out first pre-covid tourism summer, Cath O'Brien the Board of Airline Representatives Executive Director shares her thoughts.

Kids are reading better and the Government’s taking credit, Kaiapoi North School Principal Jason Miles, tells Ryan whether or not he's seen a difference in students learning.

Plus Australian Correspondent Donna Demaio has the latest on Qantas customers still fuming over data breach that led to dark web leak and record car thefts making Victoria the crime capital of Australia.

Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Roughly 70% of Kiwis did not vote in the recent local elections.

It's shaping up to be the worst voter turnout in 36 years, with only 23% of Aucklanders voting in the local elections.

Senior fellow at the New Zealand Initiative Nick Clark told Ryan Bridge that making local elections in larger cities even more local would encourage more people to vote.

"It might be a bit of an out there solution to make councils more local rather than less local."

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