Born and raised in Dunedin, Jason started out in Hospitality at an early age with after school and holiday work in kitchens until beginning his chef apprenticeship in Dunedin.
While attending Otago University studying Marketing, he continued to grow his experience in the hospitality sector and discovered after a couple of years, Hospitality was where his true passion lay. Upon completing his apprenticeship and a few years away in Queenstown, Jason returned to Dunedin for the birth of his daughter and was involved in several successful hospitality businesses as well as spending four years managing the southern region for what was then, Cerebos Foodservice.
Jason built and opened his first restaurant in ’08, which allowed him to develop and enhance the skills and knowledge that would ultimately start him on the hospitality consultancy path.
After some time in Australia, in various hospitality and training roles, he returned to New Zealand to take on further senior management roles, spending almost 6 years in Christchurch through the earthquakes. This was a challenging time for the industry, and Jason dedicated his energy to helping to re-establish the Christchurch hospitality scene, assisting with the re-opening of many different and successful venues. Returning home to Dunedin in 2016, it was back into the kitchen for a year or so before returning to coffee with 3 ½ years managing sales for The Strictly Coffee Company.
With the experience and knowledge gained from over 30 years intimately involved in Hospitality, on bars, in kitchens, managing, teaching and consulting, there isn’t much that Jason hasn’t seen, experienced nor been unable to deal with!
If you are taking your first steps into venue ownership or you’re a seasoned hospitality professional looking for that next venue, then let’s get together today and make something happen.