Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Unfinished housing developments are dotted across the Auckland region, with many seemingly in a state of limbo.

The derelict properties often led to concerns from local communities about vandalism and squatters.

A year ago, RNZ looked at several stalled developments in Auckland and explored the reasons behind why they had been left in various unfinished states.

As 2026 begins, have any of the developments been finished or demolished? Or do they continue to sit in a dilapidated state?

‘Blight on the Epsom landscape’ remains

The Epsom Central Apartments Project halted six years ago after Auckland Council found it had not complied with building consent.

The original partnership, Epsom Central Apartments LP, was put into receivership in 2022, and purchased by Xiao Liu the director of a company named Reeheng Ltd in 2023.

A year ago, locals complained the building was a “blight on the Epsom landscape” and had at one point been filled with rats and squatters.

In 2025, no noticeable progress had been made to the building, the owner of former neighbouring business Just Laptops, Forrest Tan, said.

Since then, Tan had demolished his building, partly to prepare for a rebuild he said, and partly because a previous scaffolding collapse at the derelict site next door had damaged his old building.

“This would be an ideal time to demolish [the building]. My site is now a clear, open space. Once my new building goes up demolition would be extremely difficult since it’s a boundary-to-boundary structure on a busy stretch of road.”

When RNZ visited the site, there was no obvious work ongoing, but the old precarious looking scaffolding did appear to have been tidied up or replaced and pedestrians no longer had to walk underneath it.

Has NZ’s highest residential tower restarted?

New Zealand’s would-be tallest apartment building, Seascape tower in Auckland’s CBD had construction halted for about a year.

In September 2024, it was reported the work had stalled due to a dispute between the developer and the builder.

But a year later, work resumed on the tower with contractors beginning to appear at the site.

Bayleys was also running a marketing campaign for unsold units with the words “a new chapter begins”.

Pukekohe’s ‘lock and leave’ houses

Several duplexes on Pukekohe’s Valley Rd had remained just the wooden frames of houses for at least a year, locals said, but it appeared as though some construction had been underway in 2025.

A year on, the duplexes were still covered in scaffolding and behind a fence, with no workers on site when RNZ visited, but it was obvious construction had been taking place.

The lots were listed for sale by Barfoot and Thompson in mid-2025, with the listing stating construction was due to be completed in “late 2025”.

‘Eyesore’ no more

In the coastal suburb of Mairangi Bay on the North Shore, a new build construction site which long worried locals as work appeared to have stalled was moving forward at some pace.

Nick Rogers who lived near the site on Beach Rd said work on the site seemed to stall in 2024 with just the exterior shell created.

But by the end of 2025, Rogers said work was underway again.

“It restarted about two or three months ago and is at quite some pace! Locals are relieved,” he said.

According to property records, the site was last sold in 2015 – it was not yet clear when the construction was due to finish.

Kingsland’s ‘The George’

Marketing for The George on New North Rd in Kingsland began emerging in early 2022, and was listed at the time by Harcourts, as nine luxury townhouses starting at a price of $1,785,000.

A website for the development had long since been defunct, but when RNZ visited the site in December, it was an active construction site.

Despite being little more than some planks of wood and a fence scrawled with graffiti a year ago, the building had now taken shape.

The developer of the site, CSS Luxury Homes Ltd said the site was due to be finished in mid to late 2026.

Vinod Kumar Chawla, the director of the company, said the project had stalled due to issues with finances.

“Many ups and downs but good times will come again,” he said.

“It’s a good location, top class finishing… one of the best in the city.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

An information technology expert warns the Manage My Health data breach may make victims vulnerable to bank account theft.

About 125,000 Manage My Health users have been affected by a massive data breach, with hackers stealing hundreds of thousands of medical files.

Those whose health records have been stolen in the ransomware attack are struggling to get any information, with the website repeatedly crashing and the 0800 number overloaded.

Cybersecurity and operational technology expert Dr Abhinav Chopra told RNZ the information contained in the breach, like health and personally identifiable data, could be used to access bank accounts.

“Using this information, with phone banking and others, you can easily get access to a number of bank accounts and transfer money, even in this period,” he said.

“Many banks and other institutions will just ask you, ‘Hey, what’s your name, what’s your date of birth, what’s your email address, what’s your phone number’, and some of that information or all of that information is basically in that app, Manage My Health.”

Chopra said the company’s layers of security, like password protection and encryption, weren’t appropriate for the level of sensitive data the company held.

He said the company did not apply about 17 different controls, culminating in a security breach.

“These kind of 101 basics and this stuff, it does need some investment, but when you’re holding critical information like health information and personally identifiable information, these should be your basics,” Chopra said.

On Friday, Manage My Health said it encrypted health data in its database and user passwords.

“[Manage My Health] is an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001-certified organisation,” it said. “We have quality assurance processes with regular testing of our systems.”

Chopra said hackers often targeted people on holiday or out of business hours, so victims couldn’t verify the information given with an official channel.

“Either you are busy doing something and you will just fall for that thing that they have said, or if they have created kind of an emergency kind of situation, then you fall for it,” he said.

“If you even call your own bank or your agency, or someone else, you will be outside of office hours and you will not be able to get that answer back.”

Chopra urged people not to rush into answering what could be a scam email or message.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Patients whose health records have been stolen in the Manage My Health ransomware attack are struggling to get any information, with the website repeatedly crashing and the 0800 number overloaded.

Andrea*, who lives in Wellington, said she received an email on Friday, telling her that she had been “impacted” and to log on to Manage My Health for more details.

“Except I can’t log in, as it’s ‘temporarily unavailable’,” she said. “I called the helpline included and was apparently No. 2 in the queue.

“I waited and waited, and had several more ‘Sorry to keep you waiting’ messages, but then at 11 minutes, the call was cut off.

“I called back and there was an automated message saying, ‘Due to the high volume of queries, we are unable to take your call’.”

Andrea tried a couple of times more over the morning, before giving up.

She said she had been prepared to give Manage My Health “the benefit of the doubt” until now.

“First of all, I thought, ‘Well, no news is good news’, but that was not the case, because it turns out I am impacted. Then I was, like, ‘OK, I’ll trust the process’, but I no longer trust the process.

“I naively gave them the benefit of the doubt, but now I’m just angry.”

She messaged the company and planned to lay a formal complaint with the Privacy Commissioner.

Mixed messages

Another patient, Nel*, said she received two emails from Manage My Health on Friday, advising that her health documents had been impacted in the data breach “and offering their sincere apologies”.

“I was directed to the website to log on for more information about the health data that was impacted,” she said. “When I logged on, I was advised I was my personal health data was not affected by the breach.

“It is very hard to have any faith in Manage My Health to ‘manage’ this situation and protect my health information.”

Where were checks and balances, patients ask

Lou* is angry with the criminals behind the ransomware attack – but even more furious with Manage My Health’s “arguably criminal negligence” and poor communication.

“I know for a fact, based on the limited information provided by Manage My Health, that some of my most sensitive information is now in the hands of someone unknown, and there is now a crescendoed risk of me being targeted for scams and potential ID theft.

“The potential documents now hanging in the balance contain a lifetime’s details of health records… hugely vulnerable details of my worst moments, healthwise.

“Beyond that, we have not yet been informed of further data now made available as ammunition.”

It was hard to understand how a private company had been allowed to store highly sensitive information without basic safeguards, Lou said.

Overseas users locked out

A New Zealander currently based overseas said Manage My Health had blocked her ability to secure her account, ironically, for “security reasons”.

The email from Manage My Health informing her that her account had been affected listed three recommended security steps – changing her password, enabling multi-factor authentication and “stay[ing] alert for any unusual account activity”.

“However, because I am overseas, MMH has blocked my ability to access my account.

“The email I received from MMH suggests that this is because of recent steps MMH has taken to tighten security – ‘We’ve added extra checks when people log in and limited how many times someone can try to access the system in a short time’.

“However, as a legitimate user of the MMH system who just happens to be overseas right now, I find myself unable to implement any of the recommended security steps or access any of the information in my MMH account.”

She said she was frustrated with the time Manage My Health had taken to make contact and the additional barriers.

“This is a frustrating over-correction. Not only does it prevent me from taking the steps necessary to secure my information, it also appears to be another privacy breach.

“I can no longer access my own personal health information, without sharing my login details with somebody who is located in NZ, which I imagine is also a breach of MMH’s terms.”

Blank emails

Grant* said he received an email on Friday morning headed “Important: Information About Your Manage My Health Account”, but the email was completely blank.

“I don’t know if my data has been compromised or not.

“My wife opened it with the mobile phone and had the information that my details had been accessed, but trying on the desktop, there’s nothing showing on the email.

Gemma* said she was also told that her account had been impacted, with a “summary” of the incident, but could not get through on the 0800 number provided.

“I called this morning and was 13th in the queue, before it cut me off, and it’s now overloaded and tells you to try again in a hour.

“Needless to say, I still haven’t been able to get through. It does go onto tell you the steps that have been taken.

“The email also says you have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, but fails to tell you that the OPC won’t accept a complaint, until you have complained to the provider first.”

Manage My Health has apologised for the cybersecurity breach and said it hoped to have contacted all affected patients by early next week.

*names changed for privacy reasons

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Patients whose health records have been stolen in the Manage My Health ransomware attack are struggling to get any information, with the website repeatedly crashing and the 0800 number overloaded.

Andrea*, who lives in Wellington, said she received an email on Friday, telling her that she had been “impacted” and to log on to Manage My Health for more details.

“Except I can’t log in, as it’s ‘temporarily unavailable’,” she said. “I called the helpline included and was apparently No. 2 in the queue.

“I waited and waited, and had several more ‘Sorry to keep you waiting’ messages, but then at 11 minutes, the call was cut off.

“I called back and there was an automated message saying, ‘Due to the high volume of queries, we are unable to take your call’.”

Andrea tried a couple of times more over the morning, before giving up.

She said she had been prepared to give Manage My Health “the benefit of the doubt” until now.

“First of all, I thought, ‘Well, no news is good news’, but that was not the case, because it turns out I am impacted. Then I was, like, ‘OK, I’ll trust the process’, but I no longer trust the process.

“I naively gave them the benefit of the doubt, but now I’m just angry.”

She messaged the company and planned to lay a formal complaint with the Privacy Commissioner.

Mixed messages

Another patient, Nel*, said she received two emails from Manage My Health on Friday, advising that her health documents had been impacted in the data breach “and offering their sincere apologies”.

“I was directed to the website to log on for more information about the health data that was impacted,” she said. “When I logged on, I was advised I was my personal health data was not affected by the breach.

“It is very hard to have any faith in Manage My Health to ‘manage’ this situation and protect my health information.”

Where were checks and balances, patients ask

Lou* is angry with the criminals behind the ransomware attack – but even more furious with Manage My Health’s “arguably criminal negligence” and poor communication.

“I know for a fact, based on the limited information provided by Manage My Health, that some of my most sensitive information is now in the hands of someone unknown, and there is now a crescendoed risk of me being targeted for scams and potential ID theft.

“The potential documents now hanging in the balance contain a lifetime’s details of health records… hugely vulnerable details of my worst moments, healthwise.

“Beyond that, we have not yet been informed of further data now made available as ammunition.”

It was hard to understand how a private company had been allowed to store highly sensitive information without basic safeguards, Lou said.

Overseas users locked out

A New Zealander currently based overseas said Manage My Health had blocked her ability to secure her account, ironically, for “security reasons”.

The email from Manage My Health informing her that her account had been affected listed three recommended security steps – changing her password, enabling multi-factor authentication and “stay[ing] alert for any unusual account activity”.

“However, because I am overseas, MMH has blocked my ability to access my account.

“The email I received from MMH suggests that this is because of recent steps MMH has taken to tighten security – ‘We’ve added extra checks when people log in and limited how many times someone can try to access the system in a short time’.

“However, as a legitimate user of the MMH system who just happens to be overseas right now, I find myself unable to implement any of the recommended security steps or access any of the information in my MMH account.”

She said she was frustrated with the time Manage My Health had taken to make contact and the additional barriers.

“This is a frustrating over-correction. Not only does it prevent me from taking the steps necessary to secure my information, it also appears to be another privacy breach.

“I can no longer access my own personal health information, without sharing my login details with somebody who is located in NZ, which I imagine is also a breach of MMH’s terms.”

Blank emails

Grant* said he received an email on Friday morning headed “Important: Information About Your Manage My Health Account”, but the email was completely blank.

“I don’t know if my data has been compromised or not.

“My wife opened it with the mobile phone and had the information that my details had been accessed, but trying on the desktop, there’s nothing showing on the email.

Gemma* said she was also told that her account had been impacted, with a “summary” of the incident, but could not get through on the 0800 number provided.

“I called this morning and was 13th in the queue, before it cut me off, and it’s now overloaded and tells you to try again in a hour.

“Needless to say, I still haven’t been able to get through. It does go onto tell you the steps that have been taken.

“The email also says you have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, but fails to tell you that the OPC won’t accept a complaint, until you have complained to the provider first.”

Manage My Health has apologised for the cyber-security breach and said it hoped to have contacted all affected patients by early next week.

*names changed for privacy reasons

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Silver prices increased 150% in 2025
• Gold rose by “just” 65% last year
• Silver “dual use,” complicates supply

Often dismissed as “the poor man’s gold”, silver outshone its more famous roommate in 2025, staging its biggest rally in modern trading history and smashing through 45‑year highs.

Those previous highs – around US$50 an ounce – were set in the early 1980s when the now‑infamous billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt attempted to corner the global silver market.

This time, however, the rally has been driven not by manipulation, but by a powerful mix of industrial demand, tightening supply, and resurgent investor interest.

Gold prices may have surged 65 percent to around US$4300 in 2025, but silver more than doubled that performance, finishing the year 148 percent higher at US$71.60 an ounce.

The dual use precious metal

Many of the forces that propelled gold higher last year also supported silver.

For centuries gold has served as a store of wealth – rare, dense, and importantly, gold doesn’t rust.

In today’s world, it is also used as a hedge against geopolitical risk, inflation, and the steady debasement of fiat currencies.

Local bullion dealer NZGold estimates that central banks collectively purchased 600 metric tonnes of physical gold in 2025 – worth around US$86 billion (NZ$150 billion) – as they continued diversifying away from the US dollar.

Silver, though more abundant, shares several of gold’s investor‑friendly traits, including durability and its function as a monetary metal, and it doesn’t rust.

Unlike gold, silver also has widespread industrial applications.

Most solar panels require silver, and it is a critical component in the electronics, semiconductor, and electric‑vehicle battery supply chains.

Demand from renewable energy, electrification, and AI‑driven data‑centre expansion is forecast to underpin future consumption.

Silver supply melts away

Years of underinvestment in silver mining have contributed to a cumulative supply deficit of 796 million ounces between 2021 and 2025 – worth roughly US$62b (NZ$108b) at 2025 prices, according to the World Silver Survey.

Compounding the issue, 70-75 percent of global silver output is produced as a by‑product of mining copper, lead, zinc, and gold, meaning higher silver prices do not easily translate into higher silver production.

Concerns about future supply shortages led the United States to officially designate silver as a critical mineral.

Combined with returning investor appetite on the back of rising gold prices, the reasons behind silver’s explosive rally become clear.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Biosecurity is confident they will eradicate the obnoxious Queensland fruit fly with officers back out in force in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill today.

Biosecurity Commissioner Mike Ingliss said additional traps have been set, and control zones have been set up, restricting the movement of fresh fruit and vegetables out of the area.

“What our success in the past has been is that collaboration with the community. The community absolutely, in New Zealand, know the impact of what that pest can do so that everybody is chipping in to do what they can.”

He said the key has been to go hard early.

“We’ll take it day by day, we’re never complacent. The real thing here is to go hard and early.”

The pest, which damages a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops overseas, was identified in one of Biosecurity New Zealand’s national surveillance traps, placed in fruit trees in residential backyards.

Inglis said bins will be out so residents can dispose of fruit and vegetable waste.

A controlled area surrounding where the fruit fly was found has been established and the area has been divided into two zones.

In Zone A, including 262 properties, no whole fresh fruit and vegetables, except for leafy vegetables and soil-free root vegetables, could be taken outside the zone.

In Zone B, including 8300 properties, fruit and vegetables grown in the area cannot be taken out of the zone.

Inglis said no other fruit flies have been found since the initial find on Wednesday.

He said the restrictions would likely be in place for at least one month.

“We know it’s a major commitment, and it’s an inconvenience for residents, so we really appreciate everyone getting involved. It’s essential to make sure we eradicate this pest.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Is organising your money life on your New Year’s resolution list in 2026? In this five-part series, money correspondent Susan Edmunds guides you through the basics. Catch up on the first four instalments here: Set a budget; save money; get rid of debt; sort your mortgage. Finally: Getting your KiwiSaver sorted.

KiwiSaver is an increasingly important part of many New Zealanders’ financial lives. We pull millions of dollars out of the scheme each year to buy first homes, as well as helping out in financial emergencies, and it is a big part of lots of people’s retirement planning.

But are you getting the most out of your KiwiSaver scheme?

The nature of long-term investment means that decisions that you make at the outset can have a big impact over time, so it’s important to get things set up well as early as possible.

Here’s a quick KiwiSaver 101.

Check your risk profile

A great first place to start is to think about your risk profile. This refers to your willingness to take risk with your investment.

Someone who needs to withdraw money in three months’ time to buy a house won’t have much appetite for risk at all, because they will need to know exactly how much money they have available.

But someone who is thinking about making a withdrawal in 40 years will have much more appetite for risk because they have many years to ride out any turbulence in the market.

There are online tools that can help you work through what your risk profile might be.

You might think: Why bother to take any risk at all?

In investing, risk can be a positive because it should boost your returns.

“The theory goes that the higher the return you are after, the more risk you are willing and will have to take. The more volatility you can accept in the short term, the greater the expected return in the long term,” said Dean Anderson, founder of Kernel KiwiSaver.

Choose your fund

Once you know what sort of risk you should be taking with your investment, you can choose the right KiwiSaver fund for you.

Most KiwiSaver funds can be described as either cash, conservative, balanced, growth or aggressive. You can find variations on this, and some providers offer single-asset funds that you can add to your portfolio, investing in things like property and cryptocurrency. Some providers also allow an element of DIY and stockpicking for individual investors.

If you can take more risk, a growth or aggressive fund is likely to be the best option for you.

“These funds typically offer higher returns over time, but with more volatility. Given your horizon, you can handle those fluctuations in value and expect to benefit as a result,” Anderson said.

“As an example, if you’re in your late 30s and already have your first home, opting for a high growth fund could allow compound returns to maximize your savings by the time you retire.”

But if you might buy a first home within three years, a conservative or cash fund might be better. Many people have had the experience in recent years of going to withdraw their money and finding the market had dropped at just that moment.

Cash and conservative funds focus on preserving your balance but generally deliver lower returns.

When it comes to adding in things like pure portfolio funds or investments in cryptocurrency, it could be a good idea to do this with some personalised advice.

“Cash has the lowest risk, therefore the lowest expected return. Of the four major asset classes (cash, bonds, property, shares), shares have the highest risk and the highest expected return. Share funds are lower risk than individual shares, and crypto assets, commodities and “private investments” are even higher risk,” Anderson said.

Choose your provider

You’ll also need to think about which provider is right for you. You can go with your bank, or another major fund manager, or one of the smaller providers.

In 2025 RNZ reported that more people have been moving from big bank providers to independent and boutique operators.

Fees vary, as do investment management styles. You might think a low-fee manager that tracks a market index is a good option, or you might be looking for a manager who can beat the market, or one who delivers a responsible investment strategy that aligns with your beliefs.

There are lots of options so it’s worth taking the time to find one that’s a good fit. Tools like the Sorted Smart Investor can be handy here. Mindful Money is a great platform for anyone wanting to check what their fund might be invested in.

Set your contributions

You’ll need to choose how much you want to contribute. If you’re an employee, you can choose to automatically contribute 3 percent, 4 percent, 6 percent, 8 percent or 10 percent of your gross salary. Your employer will match your contribution at 3 percent and some offer higher rates. Those default contribution rates are slowly increasing over time and could increase further if National is successful at the next election.

The right contribution for you will probably depend on your goals. A 10 percent contribution rate will boost your balance much faster. But the money is locked in until you buy a first home or turn 65.

If you’re a while away from doing either of those things, you might only contribute what your employer will match and invest the rest of what you have available somewhere else (provided you are sure you will actually so this).

The great thing about KiwiSaver is the money is taken for contributions before you see it, so there’s no temptation to do something else with it. If you’re building up other investments, you might want to apply the same policy to those and have the money taken automatically.

Some providers suggest working out how much of a lump sum you want at retirement, and then working backwards to determine what you need to save now to get there.

It can be really hard to think clearly about something that’s a long time in the future, though, so my advice if you’re still decades away from retirement is just to save and invest as much as you can while meeting other financial goals such as paying off a mortgage and enjoying your life.

Check annually

Don’t set and forget your KiwiSaver. Check on it every year to see whether it’s doing what you’d expect, given the market movements. Even if you’re not working for a while, try to contribute at least $1042 so you get the full Government contribution each year. It’s not as big as it was but it’s still worth having!

At retirement

When you get to 65, you can withdraw all the money in your KiwiSaver account. But you don’t have to. You might still have 30 years of living costs to fund, so you might choose to leave some or all of it invested and earning returns for a while. Personalised advice can help here too, to come up with a plan to draw down your money over time in a way that works for you.

The Society of Actuaries have some rules of thumb and Sorted also offers a tool to help.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

More Chinese migrants are investing in coffee vans to launch coffee businesses in Auckland, arguing it’s the most cost-effective way to test the market waters before committing to a physical location.

But as competition intensifies, securing a stable operating location has become increasingly difficult for some vendors.

Kaiyi Huang, a second-generation Chinese New Zealander, has been operating a mobile coffee and tea business called Xian Kona from a 5.7-metre truck since February.

After graduating in 2023, Huang worked part time as a barista and later as a dental assistant.

She said a tight job market prompted her to try her hand at the coffee truck business.

“I started the coffee truck because the economy in New Zealand is pretty bad,” she said. “I couldn’t find a full-time job.”

Huang said the part-time work she held at the time did not provide sufficient income.

Her parents, who are vegetable farmers, converted a family truck into a mobile coffee shop to support her.

Primarily operating from YiCart Asian Supermarket’s car park on Auckland’s Dominion Road during weekdays, as well as at the Pukekohe Park Country Market on Sundays, Huang said the business initially struggled in its early months but picked up toward the end of the year, as more markets and festivals opened for the summer season.

However, competition remained intense as more vendors also entered the market.

“I’ve also heard of physical cafes closing down and switching to mobile businesses,” she said.

Huang said standing out from competitors in the market was difficult.

She credited the popularity of signature drinks such traditional Cantonese lime teas and matcha-flavoured beverages for decent sales.

Many vendors, she said, were less fortunate, particularly those unable to secure a permanent location for their mobile coffee businesses.

“A lot of people that I know who do the coffee vans are doing it as a side hustle,” she said. “Not a lot do it full time. They don’t have a permanent location to set up every day.”

Huang said her long-term goal was to open a physical cafe, with the coffee truck serving as a complementary option.

Momo Yu, an Auckland-based operator, also hoped to open her own cafe.

Before doing so, she started coffee van business Moffee in 2024 as a way to test the viability of running a cafe business.

Yu invested about $50,000 in a small van and essential equipment to get started.

Yu said operating a coffee van was the most cost-effective way to enter the industry, particularly for a solo operator.

“It can cost at least $200,000 or $300,000 to open a physical cafe, which I can’t afford,” she said. “It’s also impossible for me to run a cafe on my own.”

Yu said the coffee van business had become a growing trend within the Chinese community from 2024 through mid-2025, drawing many young people into the market.

She said many operators, herself included, made an early mistake by buying a van before securing a stable location.

“Location is the key,” she said. “Many people think they should get a coffee cart first. I made the same mistake. I bought my van, but I had nowhere to go at first.”

“Most markets already have long-term coffee vendors,” she said. “It’s difficult to break in.”

Through referrals from friends, Yu later secured two stable operating locations, one at Auckland’s MacMurray Centre and another next to Cantonese restaurant Hungry Head on Torrens Road.

She said weather conditions posed another major challenge for coffee van operators, directly affecting daily sales.

“I work five days a week now, but during winter I used to work only three or four days,” she said. “If I work just three days, revenue drops significantly.

“Sometimes people don’t want to come out to buy coffee in winter because it’s too cold. They prefer to go to a cafe, where they can sit in a warm environment and drink coffee.”

Despite the challenges, Yu said the coffee van remained the most suitable business model for her, and that she enjoyed making coffee for a wide range of customers.

“Running a small business is like drinking a cup of coffee,” she said. “It smells great, but it tastes bitter. If you run it well, it becomes sweet. For me, it’s both bitter and sweet right now.”

Chris Zhang, who has operated a coffee cart business called Moss Coffee for about three years, said he had carved out a niche by providing catering services for events and companies when competitors attempted to squeeze margins, rather than rotating through markets and locations.

“Catering actually has a fairly large market,” he said. “Many companies inquire about this service. It’s like bringing a coffee shop to their doorstep and providing the service on site.”

Zhang said the advantage of catering was that revenue depended on service contracts rather than the sale of individual cups of coffee.

“There are many open homes that provide free coffee on site,” he said. “For example, I might make 40 cups of coffee in an hour. I don’t charge by the cup, I charge a service fee.”

He said the work could be both steady and demanding. On some days, Zhang worked from 8am until 9:30pm, driving his coffee van between three different events.

The schedule provided stable income, he said, but also came with significant stress.

Zhang said the relatively low cost of operating a coffee cart business was a key reason many Chinese entrepreneurs were drawn to the sector.

He lived in the Auckland suburb of Hobsonville, where at least four coffee cart businesses were currently operating, he said.

“If you already have a van and want to keep costs down, you can buy secondhand equipment,” he said. “It would cost around $20,000 to get set up.”

Zhang agreed the main challenge was finding a suitable place to operate the business, a factor he said should be considered before getting started.

Veronica Lee-Thompson, principal specialist in licensing and environmental health at Auckland Council, said coffee van owners must be registered to sell coffee, as well as hold a current mobile trading licence if operating on public land.

However, Lee-Thompson said some exceptions existed.

When an event is held on public land, traders are covered under an event permit issued by the council and do not need a separate mobile trading licence.

“Regular markets on public land are generally authorised under a market licence or other council approval,” Lee-Thompson said.

“This allows mobile vendors to participate without requiring their own individual mobile trading licence.”

Lee-Thompson said operators should also be aware that a standard mobile trading licence allowed trading at up to five locations.

However, it did not permit overlapping trading hours, meaning different locations could not be used at the same time under a single licence, she said.

She said not every public location was suitable for mobile trading.

When assessing applications, Auckland Council reviewed the suitability of a site and considered potential impacts on public space, access, safety and the surrounding area, she said.

“We encourage anyone interested in starting a coffee van business and planning to trade on public land to get in touch with our team,” Lee-Thompson said.

“We can provide guidance on the requirements and help determine a suitable trading location.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Is organising your money life on your New Year’s resolution list in 2026? In this five-part series, money correspondent Susan Edmunds guides you through the basics.

If you’ve got a mortgage, one of your priorities might be to try to get rid of it as soon as possible.

The past few years of higher interest rates have been tough going for lots of people.

As interest rates come down, many borrowers have more options.

There are a few changes you can make that could get you closer to that goal.

Increase your repayments

First up, the most obvious one.

If you make bigger repayments, you’ll be able to clear your home loan faster. What surprises some people is how much of a difference even a small increase in your home loan repayments can make, particularly if you haven’t had your home loan for a long time.

Interest rates have fallen over the past couple of years from more than 7 percent to less than 4.5 percent.

If you have a $500,000 loan at 4.5 percent, you’ll pay about $585 a week over a 30-year term including $411,413 of interest. If you can increase your payment to $600 a week, you’ll only pay $385,836 of interest and clear it about a year-and-a-half sooner.

You can increase your repayments by opting for a higher level when your loan comes up to refix. Sometimes you can ask your bank to increase them during the term, too, or make additional lump sum payments. There is generally a limit on how much extra you can pay back during a fixed term before you have to pay a fee.

When you loan rolls off its fixed term, you could also make an additional one-off payment before you refix again at whatever repayment rate suits.

Anything you can do to pay the balance off faster will save you a lot in the long run because it means the principal will be smaller and there won’t be so much to attract interest – which compounds – over the life of the loan.

Split your loan

You can split your loan into a number of smaller loans. This allows you to take advantage of different interest rates.

At the moment, longer fixes are more expensive than shorter ones but are still relatively low by historical standards.

You might choose to fix part for a longer rate for some security and have some on a shorter term to save money in the short term.

It also means you can choose to make higher repayments on one of the loans, and maybe aim to clear that before switching your attention to the other.

Ask for low-equity margin to be removed, or for special rate access

If you bought your house a while ago with a small deposit, you might be paying a low-equity margin on your interest rate.

You might also be paying higher rates than the “specials” banks advertise for borrowers with more deposit.

You could ask your bank to reassess your situation – if your property has improved in value or you’ve paid off your loan a bit, you could have improved your equity position, or you might find the bank is willing to negotiate.

Shop around for a sharper rate

If you don’t think you’re getting a good deal from your lender, you could look at what else is available in the market. A mortgage broker could help with this.

Banks have also been competing hard with cash back offers that can be worth quite a significant amount of money if you’re willing to shift.

Consider off-set

If you have savings that you want to keep separate from your mortgage, you could set up an offset facility.

That means you forgo the interest on your savings but also reduce your mortgage interest bill. It’s sometimes possible to do this by linking with family members’ accounts, too.

Consider revolving credit

If you have the discipline, a revolving credit facility can work well. This means you section off part of your home loan into what is basically a large overdraft and usually becomes your main transaction account.

You then aim to put your spending on your credit card each month and have your income going into your new revolving credit account.

This means you reduce the interest you pay on that portion of the loan for the period that income is sitting there. Hopefully when you pay your credit cards at the end of the month, there’s a bit left over to reduce what you owe.

You need to be a bit careful with this, though, because over time the idea is that you’ll build up money in that account as you pay it down and you don’t want to be tempted to spend it again.

Advice from a mortgage adviser or a home loan specialist from your bank can really help you to set a strategy and stick with it.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dairy prices have risen sharply overnight in the latest Global Dairy Trade index, reversing months of falling auction prices and delivering a surprise uptick for farmers.

While farming was one of the bright spots in the economy last year, there were fears it had peaked after the trading index fell nine times in five months, accelerating its decline.

Last year Fonterra dropped its farmgate milk price, reflecting the weakness of global dairy prices and cited strong milk flows from New Zealand, Europe and the United States.

But the latest auction has delivered a significant increase, with dairy prices up 6.3 percent.

The New Zealand exchange’s head of dairy insights Cristina Alvarado said an increase was expected, but the magnitude was well above expectations.

Whole milk powder prices were up more than 7 percent, skim milk 5.4 and butter 3.8.

The auction index had been falling steadily, mostly due to more milk being supplied and demand steady or falling.

But the latest auction saw the reverse, with total volumes down but demand up.

The most notable shift came from the Middle East, where the share of buying doubled to one fifth of purchasing.

Alvarado said total volumes for sale declined as New Zealand milk production was now past its peak.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand