Terms and Conditions for the Estrella Damm Top 50 New Zealand Gastropubs Awards 2025

Top 50 New Zealand Gastropubs Awards 2025

Hospitality New Zealand Incorporated (“Hospitality NZ”) is operating an Awards Program for New

Zealand Gastropubs (referred to as the “Program” or as the “Top 50 New Zealand Gastropubs Awards 2025”).

The Program is intended to showcase the best of the premium food-led pubs in New Zealand.

What is a gastropub? 

Hospitality NZ reserve discretion to decide whether an intending participant is a “gastropub”. However, a gastropub is a bar or pub that offers a restaurant-quality dining experience by serving quality food alongside a wide selection of alcoholic beverages. Unlike traditional pubs, gastropubs prioritise the culinary aspect and feature a menu with creatively prepared dishes, often using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. They also offer a selection of craft beers, wines, and spirits. Typically, gastropubs blend the cozy atmosphere of a pub with the culinary expertise of a restaurant, creating a more elevated dining and drinking experience.

Promoting the Top 50 New Zealand Gastropub Awards 2025

Hospitality NZ intends to promote the Top 50 New Zealand Gastropubs Awards 2025 to its members and to the general public, including through its website, and through:

• Communications with its members.

• Social media.

• Public voting for the top 50 entrants (and encouraging consumers to vote).

• An Awards event.

Selecting finalists and winners

The Program is operated by Hospitality NZ in association with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners New Zealand Ltd (“CCEP”), and in particular the Estrella Damm brand (Estrella Damm is a brand of beer that CCEP have the right to distribute in New Zealand).

The top 50 participants will be selected by public vote, administered by Hospitality NZ.  It is possible that prizes or incentives may be awarded to voters (potentially on a random basis).

After selection of the top 50 participants, a judging panel selected by Hospitality NZ will select:

• A winner from each of the 4 regions.

• The winner of a prize for the sustainability champion.

• The winner of a prize for the provider of the best Estrella Damm paired meal.

• An overall Supreme winner.

The judging panel will contain at least 3 people, selected by Hospitality NZ, and considered sufficiently experienced and expert by Hospitality NZ.

The entry process

Participants need to self-enter.  Entry is online, with a link provided through Hospitality NZ’s website.

Entry is subject to criteria. The Participants will be the companies that own and operate the Gastropubs. Each Participant may enter only once, unless it owns and operates more than one Gastropub.

Hospitality NZ must be satisfied that the Participant’s relevant venue is an established Gastropub operating in New Zealand.

As part of the entry process or the Program itself, participants may be asked to present images, videos, playlists or other digital assets of their venue and by doing so have the rights to the digital media provided.  Hospitality NZ has the right to use those images, in association with this event, and in association with related events in future years, and to permanently keep those images etc.

Relevant dates (which may be subject to change):

• Entries open Monday 7th October 2024

• Entries close Sunday 1st December 2024 (midnight)

• Peoples Voting Monday 2nd December 2024

• People vote Closes Friday 31st January 2025

• Hospitality Judging occurs in February

• Awards Ceremony March 26th 2025

Entry fees:    

• Entry to the awards is free for Hospitality NZ members,

• Non-members will incur a cost of $400 incl GST

Regional entrance

The Program will be undertaken, in part, on a regional basis.  Entrants should identify which region of New Zealand they operate, as outlined below:

• Top of the North Island

• Bottom of the North Island

• Top of the South Island

• Bottom of the South Island

Information that Participants must provide

The entry process will require participants to provide specified information and answer specified questions. Hospitality NZ reserves the right to change the specified information and/or the specified questions.

The provision of information and answering of questions may be subject to a word count.

An application should include external evidence in support; including customer testimonials, links to video/imagery/photos and other supporting information.

The selected Top 50      

The Top 50 Gastropubs will be selected by votes from members of the public. People voting may only vote for a Gastropub that is participating (and had been accepted) in the Program.

The Top 50 will be:

• A minimum of five (5) Gastropubs that received the highest vote from a particular Region (i.e. ensuring at multiple venues from each of the regions is chosen)

• The next 30 Gastropubs that received the most votes

Eligibility to Vote for Top 50

Voting must be done via website. Voters may only vote once per region. Voters must provide the detail required in the voting section on Hospitality NZ’s website. Voters must satisfy at least one of the following:

• Be present in New Zealand when they vote; or

• Be resident/citizen of in New Zealand.

Judging criteria – Supreme Winner and Regional Winners

Judging criteria will be provided to the judging panel by Hospitality NZ. Regional Winners (no more than one from each region) will be selected by the judging panel, from the Top 50 Gastropubs selected by public vote.

A Supreme Winner will subsequently be selected from the Regional Winners by the judging panel.

The Judges may consider criteria as they see fit, and may assess participants holistically. However, the Judges may consider criteria including:

• Customer experience.

• Food quality and variety.

• Distinctiveness and originality.

• Beverage offerings.

• Inclusion of local products.

• Appearance, decor and ambience.

• Commitments to customer service and host responsibility.

• Evidence of consideration of tikanga Māori and kai Māori.

• Evidence of social and community links.

• Evidence of commitment to environmental sustainability.

   

Judging criteria – best Estrella Damm paired meal

Criteria for best Estrella Damm paired meal will be: In the Judges’ opinion, and on the information available to the Judges, which Gastropub provides the meal that is most synergetic with and complementary to Estrella Damm beer.

To be considered for this award, a participant must be one of the Top 50 Gastropubs selected by public vote.

Judging criteria - Sustainability Champion

Criteria for Sustainabity Champion: In the Judges’ opinion, and on the information available to the Judges, which Gastropub provides the provides an exceptional experience for its guests, is connected and giving back to the community and is actively reducing its impacts on the environment.

To be considered for this award, a participant must be one of the Top 50 Gastropubs selected by public vote.

Hospitality NZ’s and Judges’ discretion

Hospitality NZ retains discretion for how to interpret and exercise its responsibilities and decisions in relation to this Program.

Hospitality NZ may, in its discretion, have a decision reconsidered if, in its belief:

• The winner of an award is not able to be contacted for 3 days following a Judge’s decision.

• A participant has provided inaccurate information.

• A participant has acted in a way that risks damaging the reputation of this Program.

Save for Hospitality NZ’s discretion as set out above, Judge’s decisions are a matter for their discretion and interpretation, and are final (with no right of appeal, review, or reconsideration).  

Prizes for voters

Hospitality NZ may, acting alone or in conjunction with sponsors, award prizes to voters.  Prizes can be awarded on a random basis, or on whatever criteria Hospitality NZ deems fit (e.g., first to vote).

Privacy and Ownership of Information

Personal details submitted by voters may be held by Hospitality NZ for the purposes of authenticating their vote, and/or awarding prizes or incentives (if any) that may be available to voters.  Voter details will be deleted by Hospitality NZ within 3 months of the end of the Program for the given year. 

Participants are likely to be companies (rather than natural people); therefore, Privacy considerations may have limited application.  However, insofar as the Program gives rise to other Privacy issues (for voters or participants), Hospitality NZ will act in accordance with its Privacy Policy, which is to be found at https://www.hospitality.org.nz/privacy-policy