Hog’s Breath Cafe closes stores after going bankrupt

One of Australia’s best-known restaurant chains, Hog’s Breath Cafe, has closed two more locations – as it has been revealed that nearly half of its franchised stores have closed their doors in the past decade.

Two Hog’s Breath franchisees – in Tuggerah and Coffs Harbor NSW – went bankrupt on Friday after announcing ‘temporary’ closures, but then went bankrupt.

It is clear that the Central Coast location has struggled to get going again after the pressure of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in 2020 and 2021.

This coupled with the perfect storm of the rising cost of living, rising rents and diminished customer interest led to the closure of the NSW locations.

To our loyal customers, we are temporarily closed due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for the inconvenience,” Tuggerah’s location wrote on social media on May 22.

The Coffs Harbor franchise posted a similar update to its pages, but said the restaurant would be “closed until further notice.”

Dozens of Hog’s Breath fans lamented the sudden closure of the shops and many reminisced about time spent with loved ones in the restaurants.

“I’m not sure where to eat now,” one said.

Don’t stay closed for too long, you know how much I love my schnitzel,” wrote a second.

A third shared: “Aw the memories, I love that place.”

Up to a dozen franchises have closed across Australia in the past 12 months.

The seven sites still operating in NSW are in St Marys, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Penrith, Port Macquarie, Nelson Bay and Tamworth.

Just six years ago, the brand had up to 80 thriving locations, but by 2021, the number of stores had nearly halved to just 47 locations.

In 2019, about a dozen stores had to close after their owners declared bankruptcy or lost valuable assets.

At the time, former Hog’s Breath Cafe CEO Ross Worth said the company was facing the “toughest environment we’ve seen in 30 years.”

Mr Worth said the restaurant industry had experienced 10 consecutive quarters of decline and there were a number of factors leading to the closure of multiple stores, including customers’ changing eating and drinking habits.

“In addition to a decline in spending, consumers have also significantly changed their eating and shopping habits with the advent of food delivery services and the increasing prevalence of meal kits,” he said.

“We are also dealing with rising operational costs with rising wages, raw materials costs, rent and electricity.”

In 2020, pandemic pressure caused locations in Palmerston, Carindale, Albury and Canberra Civic to close between December and February 2021.

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