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US couple charged $800 for four drinks and snack at Mykonos DK Oyster Bar

A tourist has described her horror after she was charged $A800 for four drinks and a snack at a notorious Mykonos beach restaurant.

US lawyer Theodora McCormick was holidaying on the Greek island with her husband when the couple stopped at DK Oyster Bar to grab a drink.

After ordering two beers, two cocktails and some seafood, the pair were stunned to be handed the exorbitant bill, The Sun reports.

When they tried to complain, they said they were squared up to by hulking waiters.

DK Oyster Bar has previously been at the center of similar controversy and has a reputation for staggering prices.

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It has been accused of scamming tourists – allegations it always furiously denies as it defends its high prices.

Speaking from her home in New Jersey, Theodora, 50, said they had been in the beachside resort of Platis Gialos last month when they stopped at DK Oyster.

They were looking to order a taxi back to their hotel when they saw the sign outside DK Oyster which said that taxis could be ordered from inside.

“I told my husband, ‘Oh, why don’t we call a taxi and grab a drink,’” she said.

“That was my big mistake.”

When the waiter came over, Theodora said she asked for a cocktail menu, but instead of bringing one over, he rattled off a list of options.

They ordered two martinis and two beers, which they were stunned to see arrived in giant glass boots – estimated to be around three pints.

The waiter also pestered them to order some seafood and so the couple ordered a dozen oysters.

Before ordering the bill, Theodora and her husband were bracing themselves for a hefty tab – but when they received it their jaws dropped.

“It was Mykonos, we knew it was going to be ridiculous,” she said, but she expected a bill around “250-odd euros – that’s what we were thinking”.

“But when we got the bill… it was around €500 ($A800).

“My husband was like, ‘There’s got to be a mistake.”

When they tried to complain about the bill, Theodora said they were immediately surrounded by the waiters, “a group of big, hulking men.”

She went on: “They have no female waiters.”

As it was a day before they were scheduled to fly home, they felt they had no choice but to back down and pay.

She said: “I told my husband, ‘We’re in a foreign country. It’s ridiculous, but it’s obviously some sort of scam. We’ll pay up and try to deal with our credit card company later.’”

Describing the “weird experience,” Theodora said it was only when they got back to their hotel and looked at the DK Oyster Bar’s hundreds of negative reviews on TripAdvisor that they realized they weren’t alone.

“I feel foolish,” she said. “It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. We weren’t planning on eating there, but we saw the sign.”

She added: “They’re never going to have any repeat business, but I suppose they get enough people from around the world that there’s always a supply of fresh meat.”

Theodora said that they had visited a number of the Greek islands as well as Mykonos, and that most of their meals were “extremely reasonable,” and that they were often able to enjoy great meals for just €40 ($A60).

Her experience is echoed by hundreds of other customers, with DK Oyster having a 2.5 star rating on TripAdvisor from 1532 reviews as of publication.

The bar has 635 one-star, 33 two-star, 19 three-star, 52 four-star, and 339 five-star reviews.

Furious customers blasted the restaurant as the “worst experience ever”.

However, other customers were more positive, praising the restaurant’s setting and saying “prices are good for the high class restaurant it is”.

DK Oyster has a reputation for high prices and was recently fined $A43,000 after an audit by Cyclades Regional Tourism Agency, reports Prototheme and the Greek City Times.

The investigation was sparked by two Americans who claimed they were charged more than $800 for a pair of mojitos and some crab legs.

And this week, the bar’s owner Dimitrios Kalamaras issued a direct response to his critics and denied customers’ claims they don’t know the prices before they step inside.

He accused many of his reviewers on TripAdvisor of lying, and said following “dozens” of similar “false” claims, he had installed three blackboards at the entrance to the restaurant displaying his prices.

Mr Kalamaras also said that “no adult in their right mind” would order a drink without seeing how much it costs first and told customers to discuss the price with the manager before they order.

Justifying his higher-than-average prices, he said that DK Oyster’s “concept” was completely different to other restaurants.

And he accused critics of being “influencers” who were looking for a free meal.

“Unfortunately, all of us who work in the hospitality sector have been approached by notorious ‘influencers’ who instead of making their living by advertising products and services to their audience, they put pressure on certain businesses for exorbitant fees and free meals,” he said.

“In DK Oyster, we have advertised in the ways we consider suitable for our restaurant and we will not succumb to the influencers who have been attracted to the beautiful island of Mykonos.”

Previously, a British tourist revealed how he was charged £360 ($A600) for four drinks and a snack at the restaurant.

Londoner Jak Kypri was visiting the Greek island – and thought that he wouldn’t be ripped off because he spoke Greek.

“I thought if they try to scam me I’ll tell them to p**s off and give me the real price.”

But when he walked in, Jak said that waiters didn’t offer him a menu, instead telling him what they had.

Jak ordered two tequilas, two beers, and some shrimp which, when it arrived, was just “six prawns.”

To his horror, when the bill arrived, Jak was handed a receipt for an eye-watering €425 ($A600).

Meanwhile another UK tourist claimed she was charged £50 ($A90) for lemonade that she said was so bitter it was undrinkable.

And a dad lashed out at the restaurant after his daughter was allegedly charged nearly £300 ($A500) for a single meal.

The Sun Online has approached DK Oyster Bar for comment.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission

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Coffee roasters are adapting to fewer people wanting a barista-made brew

More New Zealand specialty coffee roasters are jumping on the instant trend.

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More New Zealand specialty coffee roasters are jumping on the instant trend.

As fewer people head out to cafes for a cup of coffee, roasters are making it easier for people to have a tasty cup of joe at home.

Specialty coffee roaster Flight Coffee started an instant coffee line less than two months ago, after director and founder Nick Clark found fewer people were venturing out for a barista-made brew post-Covid.

On top of that, the increase in living costs and inflation has caused a massive uptake in home coffee consumption, he said.

“We’re seeing more and more people buy home coffee machines and making it themselves.“

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In the past 10 years, Clark had seen the development and innovation of alternative ways to brew and make coffee at home and in cafes.

And although he said the consumption of whole bean coffee would likely always hold the crown, there had been strong growth in alternative consumption of high-quality coffee such as pods and instant.

JASON DORDAY/STUFF

Coffee drinkers on Ponsonby Rd ​​have noticed a hike in prices at their favorite coffee shops.

“There is a move to the premiumisation of great quality coffee in general. We’re seeing it with the capsule market and now with instant.”

Clark said it costs more to produce the instant due to the extra steps in the process.

“Our instant coffee range is the same coffee you’ll find us selling as a whole bean, high quality specialty that has been ethically sourced through our supply chain.”

A 2022 instant coffee market study found the global instant coffee market reached a value of US$12.7 billion (NZ$20.35b) in 2021.

Flight Coffee's instant range launched in June.

Supplied

Flight Coffee’s instant range launched in June.

The market is projected to reach US$17.3b by 2027, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% during 2022-2027.

David Huang, owner Society Coffee Roasters in Auckland and board member of the NZ Specialty Coffee Association, said the market seemed to indicate that a few major specialty coffee players were moving into the field of instant coffee.

The likely idea behind it was to capture mainstream food service sales such as the public who bought coffee from the supermarket instead of a local roaster.

“The analogy behind this movement is simple. General consumers do not want to spend time or invest money and effort into making coffee as it is still not embedded in NZ culture to prepare coffee freshly ourselves,” he said.

David Huang says the market seems to indicate that a few major specialty coffee players are moving into the field of instant coffee.

Supplied

David Huang says the market seems to indicate that a few major specialty coffee players are moving into the field of instant coffee.

The pandemic and work from home movement had resulted in a fair increase in coffee consumption at home and in the workplace.

Huang said up to 70% of the coffee consumed in NZ was in the form of instant, while the fresh roasted bean and grind market only accounted for 30%.

“But there are well over 400 coffee roasters fighting in this over-saturated market.”

Huang said about five years ago barista-made coffee became a loss leading product and with the continued increased cost of raw material like green (raw) coffee bean, businesses needed to adapt, or put their prices up.

“The move to capture this massive general consumer market is inevitable and sensitive from business strategy point of view, as product like instant and capsule coffee have a longer shelf life, a much bigger margin and easier to handle in transportation.”

Huang said only time would tell how NZ consumers would respond to the hype.

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Woman buys $2600 designer coffee table: Finds ‘penis’ design

An architect who spent a whopping $2600 on a designer coffee table was horrified when it turned up sporting what looked like a giant penis.

Brazilian architect Ana Julieta Garcia had purchased the table for an interior design project she was working on for a client in Spain.

The 32-year-old paid $2,619 for the handmade piece.

But at the time of paying, she had not seen the specific design she would get, as the tables are made from volcanic lava and are each individual.

Ms Garcia, who also works as a DJ, was astonished when the delivery arrived with the likeness of a penis covering the tabletop.

“It’s a handmade table made from volcanic lava, which is enamelled by hand. You can’t know the final design until it comes out of the oven,” she said.

“That’s the beautiful part of the story, you never know how your product will turn out.

“I saw the example – but it really went wrong in the oven.”

“All the dark pigments clumped together in the middle. Normally, they’re separated,” she added.

“Usually, the final image looks like it is multidimensional. But my order turned out really – interesting – I’d say.”

She joked: “Help! You work your whole life and now your reference is a huge blue d*ck.

“When you put ‘Ana Julieta’ into Google, only this will appear. Nothing about an architect or a DJ.”

She added: “The company sent me the product advising that it hadn’t turned out like they’d hoped.

“It’s just that the table has a long production time. I left it with my client, and the new tabletop is already under production.

“When I handed it over, I said, ‘If you want to keep it, fine. If not, I understand.’”

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Real estate, RBA rates: Buyers avoid unrenovated homes as house prices fall

The Australian property marketing is already “setting”, with rising interest rates scaring borrowers away and forcing sellers to accept lower prices.

But not all homes are made equal, and buyers are becoming more picky — with newly renovated, turnkey properties now in demand, auctioneers say.

Stefan Stella from Ray White Glenroy, whose sale of a $1.5 million East Brunswick terrace to a young couple who “weren’t really looking” went viral over the weekend, told news.com.au there was “a bit of turmoil” in the market but that “anything that’s priced correctly does sell”.

“I had another auction on Saturday that was a complete dead duck, no action whatsoever,” he said.

That property, a 700 square meter corner block development site, would have normally sold for $1.3 million to $1.4 million, but passed in at $1.1 million.

Given the troubles in the building industry, Mr Stella said properties that are already renovated are more desirable.

“Basically anything that is going to require work, people are now taking into consideration the additional time and costs,” he said.

“Barkly Street was an exception, it’s the best street in East Brunswick.”

When prices began to fall earlier this year, Mr Stella said many sellers baulked at taking a haircut on a “superior property” to one down the street that might have sold for a higher price just a few months earlier.

“With all the negativity in the media the past three or four months, I’d say now most people are accustomed to the market that is, whereas at the start they were utilizing comparable sales from three months earlier when the market was no longer comparable. ,” he said.

“That’s where it was hard. Everything is still selling provided it’s priced right.”

Mr Stella said apartments had been worst affected by the downturn, followed by unrenovated properties.

“And then the townhouse market, I think because of its pricepoint, you generally find it holds its own a little bit more,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sydney-based auctioneer Tom Panos said in a video update on Saturday that seven out of his 10 auctions that day sold.

“That’s a pretty good result – 70 per cent today, which is saying to me two things,” he said.

“Number one that there is settling and normality coming into the market.”

Mr Panos said the media was the “best vendor manager in real estate at the moment”.

“Every time I walk into a property the first thing I ask is, ‘Mr and Mrs Vendor, what’s your understanding of the current market?’ Nine out 10 vendors say to me, ‘We know it’s hard, and we know it’s getting harder.’ And for that reason you are getting vendors that are either giving you reserves that are realistic, or they’re giving you optimistic reserves with a fallback number which is normally good enough to sell a property,” he said.

After a few weeks of “OK results” – Mr Panos in July said he was “really stressed” after almost no buyers showed up to his auctions – the real estate coach said there was a “settling in the market and people are accepting these are the new values”.

“The real question is going to be, what’s going to happen in September, October, November as the market appraisals start lining up now as we end the winter, and we move into our spring selling season which sees an upswing in listings?” he said.

“One would assume that more listings should see a softening of prices. But the softening’s already happened. I’ve said it before, there’s a data lag that economists are missing by about three, four months. The market has already been repositioned in most areas by 10 per cent, even 15 per cent, some markets even 20 per cent. But realistically, we’re probably going to see another softening of around five, 10 per cent. We’re close to the bottom I think.”

He pointed out that “every time there’s a rate rise that equates to 1 per cent, it basically means borrowers get 10 per cent less from their bank”.

“So if you get a 2 per cent increase in interest rates, you’re roughly looking at approximately a 20 per cent drop in borrowing availability for a buyer from a bank,” he said.

“This is an important number because what’s it’s basically telling us is that if rates keep going up at the speed that they’re going up at the moment, that buyers are going to have less money.”

Mr Panos speculated that this is why there were “a few buyers that are rushing in and snapping up property”.

“They’ve sat down with their mortgage broker and their broker has basically said to them, ‘Listen, there’s two sides to this. Yes there might be a further dropping of prices, but since they’ve already dropped, and you’ve got this loan approved right now, use it, secure a home that you like, and even if you haven’t bought at the bottom , you are keeping it for the next five, 10 years. But if you don’t buy it right now, guess what happens? You might not have the same amount of money out in the marketplace because you’re going to be rerated by the banks.’”

It comes after the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates for the fourth month in a row last week.

The 50 basis-point increase at the central bank’s August meeting brings the official cash rate to 1.85 per cent, up from the record low 0.1 per cent it was up until May.

Already, the rise in interest rates has pushed house prices down in most major cities as borrowers stare down the barrel of higher monthly payments.

PropTrack’s Home Price Index shows a national decline of 1.66 per cent in prices since March, but some regions have seen much sharper falls.

“As repayments become more expensive with rising interest rates, housing affordability will decline, prices pushing further down,” PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said.

There were 1080 auctions across the country on Saturday with 51.3 per cent sold, according to preliminary clearance rate data from PropTrack.

Melbourne saw 364 auctions with a clearance rate of 59.1 per cent, while Sydney had 354 auctions with a clearance rate of 48.9 per cent.

“It was a quiet week for auctions across the country,” Ms Creagh said.

“Although, clearance rates ticked up in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth despite the third consecutive outsized rate rise delivered last week which brought the cash rate to the highest it’s been in six years. We are perhaps reaching a point where vendor price expectations have lowered after several months of price falls in some parts of the country, so more properties are clearing at auction.”

Ms Creagh added that buyers were also aware that borrowing power would be “further constrained with rates continuing to rise and so some are taking advantage of the increased choice available now”.

“New listings have remained strong and although prices are falling, there is lots of choice for buyers,” she said.

“That said, sales volumes are slowing as housing market conditions have moderated with rising rates.”

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US billionaire Warren Buffett hit by $63b loss

One of the richest men alive has seen his company suffer a whopping $US43.76 billion ($A63.3 billion) loss as a result of the bloodbath on the share market.

The billionaire Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time and has a net worth of $US102 billion ($A147 billion).

But there owner of Berkshire Hathaway was forced to reveal the brutal loss after its three biggest investments – shares in Apple, American Express and Bank of America – plummeted in the second quarter amid rising interest rates and runaway inflation.

But Mr Buffett isn’t a fan of relying on investments gains and losses, which can swing wildly from quarter to quarter.

Instead, he said the company’s operating earnings better reflect its performance.

Berkshire’s earning painted a far rosier picture skyrocketing to $US9.28 billion ($A14 billion), from last year’s $US6.69 billion ($A9.7 billion).

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Among the 90 companies operated under Berkshire, including insurance, utility, manufacturing and service companies as well as a railway firm, a $US487 million ($A703 million) loss was reported at insurance company Geico, due to the soaring value of cars and ongoing shortages of car parts.

Berkshire is believed to give an insight into how the broader US economy is faring given the broad scope of companies across industries, amid fears the US could be headed into a recession.

“This is a business that has its tentacles in all different parts of the economy. To show such broad revenue and earnings strength throughout the franchise, it gives me a lot of confidence that the broader economy is performing pretty well,” said Jim Shanaham, analyst at investment firm Edward Jones reported the Australian Financial Review.

The company revealed its revenue grew by more than 10 per cent to $US76.2 billion ($A110 billion) in the quarter as many of its businesses increased prices.

Earlier this year, the billionaire had to backflip on his staunch stance against cryptocurrency in an embarrassing concession.

The businessman was a well-known proponent against blockchains and compared bitcoin – the most popular cryptocurrency – to “rat poison” in 2018.

But in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from Mr Buffettt’s company Berkshire revealed that he had spent a whopping US$1 billion (A$1.4 billion) on cryptocurrency.

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Luxury bargain hunters embrace eBay

Over the past few years, the business has been investing in tools for collectors and consumers of luxury goods, including authenticity guarantees for shoes and handbags.

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EBay recently launched a collectables storage facility called eBay Vault, which lets users store products such as trading cards in a climate-controlled and secured warehouse from which they can sell their goods through the eBay platform.

Ramadge has been with eBay Australia for five years, having stepped into the role of senior director of product and shipping after a decade working in Silicon Valley.

He agrees there is plenty of “doom and gloom” in discussions about rising interest rates and inflation, but says now is the time for a company such as eBay to leverage what it does best.

“You can sell and free up some cash if you’ve got stuff around the house,” he said.

“And it’s still a place for you to go and get those nice luxuries, those nice hobby items that can keep you happy even through a tough economic time.”

Australia is a small slice of eBay’s total business, but documents filed with the corporate regulator show the company has increased profit in the face of COVID lockdowns across the country.

The retail giant’s local operations made a $13.6 million profit in 2021, up by 47 per cent on 2020.

Australian retail spending has maintained momentum but is expected to slow in coming months.

Australian retail spending has maintained momentum but is expected to slow in coming months. Credit:edwina pickles

At the start of lockdowns in 2020, the platform had a surge in customers logging on to sell used goods for the first time. Ramadge says that trend is happening again now that many households are staring down rising mortgage payments.

It’s four months until the festive shopping season begins, and with early signs that spending is slowing down, there are no expectations it will be as strong as previous years.

“I think that the macro environment means it will be a challenging shopping season,” Ramadge said.

“The fact that everyone’s out and about combined with the tighter economic environment means it’ll be a little more challenging this year, that’s for sure.”

But there’s hope that the current conditions will help spur Australians’ passion for the “circular economy”, where second-hand items change hands instead of shoppers going to big department stores for gifts.

This trend plays to eBay’s strengths.

“We’re seeing a lot of activity and interest in buying and selling pre-loved items, especially from younger consumers, like Gen Z, and in areas like fashion,” Ramadge said.

“So I think there are some trends within categories, where you’ll see enormously strong year-over-year growth.”

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Woolworths worker pays for Melbourne mum’s groceries in kind act

A Woolworths customer has been left “mortified” after a staff member stepped in to help her out during a tough moment.

The Melbourne woman explained she was having technical issues while paying for her groceries during a recent trip to the supermarket.

At the same time, her newborn baby was “kicking off”, prompting a Woolworths worker to step in and pay for the woman’s groceries.

The customer took to Reddit to explain that while she was very “grateful”, she was also “mortified” over the experience – and wanted to see if there was a way she could thank the woman without getting her in trouble.

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“I just got back from Woolworths where I tried to pay with my phone on self-checkout,” she said.

“It wasn’t working so they printed me a barcode and took me to the service desk to pay, but my phone payment still didn’t work.

“After trying a few times and my newborn kicking off, the staff member said, ‘Don’t worry it’s on me.’

“I was really taken back and asked if I could transfer her the money.

“She said no and then said, seriously it’s on me. My baby was screaming the place down by this point. I was so grateful and also mortified.”

The encounter left the woman asking questions about the Woolies staff member was allowed to do this or if it was “dodgy”.

“I want to go back and give her something to say thank you, but don’t want to get her in trouble if she’s done something she’s not supposed to have done,” she said.

“Anyone work at Woolworths and can tell me what the deal is?”

People were quick to tell the woman to leave it and not draw attention to the worker’s actions.

“Maybe accept the kindness shown and pay it forward to someone else in need. In that way, you don’t risk getting the staff member in trouble,” one person said.

Another added: “What’s more likely? They risk being sacked or even arrested for a total stranger, or pays a few bucks to help out someone obviously trying their best but struggling.

“My partner works at a supermarket and has paid for people before. It feels good. Pay it forward.”

A third, who works at a different supermarket, said: “I’ve paid the difference for a few people that have come up short a couple of times and as far as I’m aware that is completely fine, even seen my boss do Item.

“Don’t know why it would be any different at Woolies. Sounds like excellent customer service to me.”

Another added: “I work at Woolworths, the company only cares if the products are paid for. She likely paid out of her own pocket for you, I’ve done it before.”

Read related topics:MelbourneWoolworths

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Economists deeply divided over Reserve Bank’s likely interest rate trajectory

Deep divisions are emerging among some of Australia’s leading bank economists on their outlook for interest rates and the Australian economy.

In one camp are those, such as the economists at Westpac and ANZ, who believe that the cash rate target will pass 3 per cent before the end of this year.

Both are tipping the RBA’s benchmark official rate to peak at 3.35 per cent — it is currently 1.85 per cent — meaning interest rates would almost double from where they are, rising by another 1.5 percentage points over the next six months or so.

The cash rate target was just 0.1 per cent at the beginning of May.

In fact, Westpac’s chief economist Bill Evans is not only predicting the cash rate will get to 3.35 per cent, but arguing it must if the Reserve Bank is serious about bringing down inflation.

Westpac and CBA logos
Westpac is expecting the cash rate to hit 3.35 per cent, but CBA thinks it will top out at 2.6 per cent before falling next year.(abcnews)

“The key reason why we insist that a sharper slowdown in demand is required in 2023 is that a much stronger set of demand conditions … runs the risk of resilient high inflationary expectations,” he wrote in response to the RBA’s Statement on Monetary Policy, released on Friday.

The Reserve Bank used market forecasts of a 3 per cent cash rate to underpin its latest economic forecasts, which did not have inflation falling back even to the top of its 2–3 per cent target range until the end of 2024.

Mr Evans said those forecasts showed that the RBA should raise rates more aggressively, even at the expense of slower economic growth — Westpac’s modeling tips annual economic growth of just 1 per cent next year if rates hit 3.35 per cent.

“Such an approach would give the bank the best chance of managing this difficult task of returning inflationary expectations to more normal levels and deflating the current ‘inflationary psychology’ which is now at risk of taking hold,” he said.

Too many rate rises could ‘take the economy backwards’

Then there is the other camp of economists, represented by the Commonwealth Bank and NAB among the big four, who cannot see the cash rate getting above 3 per cent in the near future.

“I don’t think it’s likely to happen because I think the Reserve Bank, once they get the cash rate to around their estimate of neutral [somewhere near 2.5 per cent]will want to pause and actually see how the economy’s responding to the rate hikes that they’ve delivered,” CBA’s head of Australian economics Gareth Aird told RN Breakfast.

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“They are putting through a lot of tightening in a very short amount of time and, if they continue to hike at the rate that they’re doing and just keep going all the way to 3 per cent and even above that level, they’ re not going to be able to actually assess the impact that those hikes are having on the economy in that in that amount of time.

“Now, it’s possible that they end up taking the cash rate to those levels, but I think if they do that, they’ll end up reversing gear in the not too distant future because … we have a highly indebted household sector in Australia and rate rises of that magnitude will just put too many households under stress and I think that will ultimately take the economy backwards.”

The Reserve Bank has recently changed its language slightly to emphasize that “it is not on a pre-set path”.

“The size and timing of future interest rate increases will be guided by the incoming data and the board’s assessment of the outlook for inflation and the labor market,” RBA governor Philip Lowe said after last week’s latest half-a-percentage-point rate rise .

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Winemakers embrace corks again thanks to sustainability push

In news that will strike fear into the heart of anyone who has struggled with a corkscrew, the traditional wine closure — cork — is making a comeback.

While screw caps have dominated the Australian wine industry for decades, a new generation of winemakers is going old school.

Noah Ward is a brand ambassador at Unico Zelo, which produces wines in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills.

He said making wine more sustainable was behind the push to put corks back into bottles.

“You can’t grow a screw cap. It’s a finite resource that you have to mine … but you can grow cork trees til the cows come home,” Mr Ward said.

“There’s also that little plastic polymer that’s not necessarily good for the planet [because it] won’t biodegrade very well.”

Mr Ward said in addition to its environmental benefits, corks also helped wines develop more naturally.

A man pours a glass of red wine at a dimly lit wooden bar, an orange wine is in the foreground.
Unico Zelo brand ambassador Noah Ward says he knows of about 50 winemakers of his generation who were using cork.(Supplied: Unico Zelo)

“Our business started in the 2010s, which was a pretty big shift in the wine industry with the emergence of natural wine or lo-fi wine, minimal intervention, wine. Most of the producers of that ilk were using corks or other products like that ,” he said.

“There are things that screw caps can do better than corks, they can keep wine protected from oxygen for a long period of time, so they can age a lot longer.

“But I like to see a wine develop quicker, so I can actually drink it [sooner rather] than wait 25 years for my semillon to finally get to that point where it’s not extremely high in acid.”

Why did corks fall out of fashion?

General manager Dan Simmons of Australian cork manufacturer Vinocor said the change came about because of a chemical called trichloroanisole or TCA.

“The term is ‘corked’,” he said.

“TCA can make the wine smell like wet cardboard—it basically ruins the wine.

“Back in the 90s, around 5 per cent of wines were being tainted by this chemical compound.”

In response to this, Mr Simmons said Australian wine producers started shifting to screw caps in the early 2000s.

“The cork industry went from supplying nearly all of the market to a position where probably only 10 per cent of the market was filled with cork,” he said.

Then in 2004 Diam created a solution.

“They took some technology that was used by the coffee industry to remove caffeine from coffee beans and adapted that to the cork industry to remove TCA and other flavour-modifying molecules,” Mr Simmons said.

“It also solved the other problem of bottle variation because the Diam cork is actually granulated cork, and then it’s put back together. So they’re very consistent as it removed the problem of random oxidisation.”

But the local industry had moved on.

Three corks on a white background.
The Diam cork is made from granulated offcuts, pieced together with a carbon-based glue.(Supplied: Vinocor)

Mr Simmons said while cork was experiencing a resurgence, making up about 15 per cent of closures of Australian wines, more companies needed to use it to make recycling programs effective.

“The secondary uses are immense,” he said.

“[Cork is in] the soles of shoes, in building products, and sporting goods such as the inside of cricket balls.”

Mr Simmons said Vinocor hoped to work with competitors to encourage the use of corks more widely.

“Sustainability is very important for the wine industry. We’re signatories to the Australian packaging covenant, so we need to find ways to make sure that our packaging products are recyclable or compostable,” he said.

“Certainly in other markets around the world, like in America and in Europe, collecting corks for recycling is just normal practice because they have the critical mass.”

A wine bottle with a cork and glasses on the back of a white ute
Unico Zelo lists packaging materials, such as corks and palettes, in online marketplaces or donates them to local kindergartens.(Supplied: Unico Zelo)

not corkscrew? No problem

Mr Ward said once consumers understood the benefits of cork, they were on board.

But ensuring they had the tools to open wines with this closure had been a challenge.

Last year Unico Zelo even ran a “sabre off” competition calling for customers to share videos on social media of them cutting open wine bottles.

A glass of white wine next to a cork on a corkscrew
The raw material of cork is taken from a cork oak, with the tree able to be harvested up to 15 times during its life.(Supplied: Vinocor)

“One of my favorite things in the world is trying to MacGyver open a bottle of wine,” Mr Ward said.

“You can even open wine with a shoe, I’ve done that a few times before, you can get tricky with drills… you can even use a spatula.”

“But I think now it’s becoming one of those things where if you’re into wine and you start buying stuff from interesting small producers you’re going to have to spend 10 bucks to buy a corkscrew.”

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Real estate: Eleven suburbs reach $1m median house price in Perth

Eleven suburbs have joined the $1m median house price club as values ​​continue to climb in Perth.

While other states are seeing house prices fall, Perth has lagged behind most of the other capitals.

It means despite rising interest rates and cost of living pressures, the housing market in WA has soared in the past year.

Six of the 11 suburbs recorded more than 20 per cent price growth during the 2021-22 financial year, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.

Marmion, Mount Hawthorn, North Perth, Fremantle and Kensington had their median house prices tip above $1.1m at the end of June.

Gwelup, Booragoon, Karrinyup, Leederville, Iluka and Como reached $1m or more.

The top suburb is Marmion, which now has a median price of $1.27m — an increase of 32 per cent in the past year.

REIWA president Damian Collins said people had started to gain confidence in WA’s strong economy and property market, which had translated into more sales at the top end.

“All of these suburbs have had medians hovering below $1m for quite some time,” he said.

“It is impressive to see the demand for houses in these suburbs hold strong throughout the 2021-22 financial year, now placing them in Perth’s luxury market.”

Mr Collins said Perth’s premium market was attracting a lot of interest from buyers leading to strong price growth.

“If you are considering selling in one of these suburbs, now would be an opportunistic time to capitalize on this demand,” he said.

REIWA predicts house prices will continue to rise in Perth for some time.

“Given Perth has a housing shortage, the cheapest median house price of any capital city in the country, a growing population and strong economy, we anticipate house prices to continue to rise as we enter the back end of 2022,” Mr Collins said.

“As more suburbs reap the benefits of our strong market conditions, Perth’s million-dollar club is likely to continue to grow over the next 12 months.”

Read related topics:Perth

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