Off the back of several iconic restaurant closures in Melbourne, Bureau View shared an article on Broadsheet on simple ways people can support their favourite restaurants beyond dining out. One tip pointed to buying merchandise.
On the consumer end, merch is a beloved way to represent their community or an experience they had close affinity with. It’s sentimental. If done well, people also buy in because it’s trendy (we’ve all seen Gelato Messina merch about).
For the business, it’s a great way to extend your brand’s reach, foster loyalty and gain an extra revenue stream (merch often has a higher markup than food or drink). If you’re looking to get started on some promotional merchandise for your business, we’ve put together a healthy dose of inspiration from some of the best.
This is a shortlist of Australian hospitality brands that have made merchandise to diversify their offering. Full disclosure: we made these pieces.
Bar Planet Souvenir Hat
Danielle Alvarez Picnic Bag
Hospitality businesses selling branded merchandise
Bar Planet in Newtown, Sydney
The beloved Newtown martini bar’s souvenir hat is a cotton twill 6-panel dad cap (a Worktones icon) that tells the world you have sophisticated taste. The caps are available to buy on their website and at the bar, making it a great impulse purchase when you’re a few cocktails deep.
Brooki Bakehouse in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
If you have been online in the past year, you’ll recognise Brooki - the face behind the viral cookies made in Brisbane and shipped all over Australia. In every vlog, Brooki is wearing her pink embroidered Worktones Mo apron which she now sells as merch, along with caps and other delicious things.
Native Drops in Bondi and Surry Hills, Sydney
Native Drops' is all about the small-batch, boutique wine, beer and spirits. In 2023, they collaborated with Worktones to sell two slogan dad caps, one with ‘Gamay’ and the other, in honour of the wine variety of the moment, ‘Pet Nat’. The first run sold out and they’ve just recently restocked.
The Sunseeker in Byron Bay
The Sunseeker collaborated with Take 3 for the Sea, whose mission is to conserve the environment and protect wildlife from the impacts of plastic pollution and waste, on a reusable market tote. Along with other nice things like caps and mugs, Sunseeker merch has become essential for anyone lucky enough to visit.
Shop the Eco-Friendly Market Bag here
Paramount House Hotel in Surry Hills, Sydney
Paramount House Hotel's camo dad cap is the perfect example of merchandise as a brand awareness tool - even the likes of the Jonas Bros have been seen wearing this about. It’s a classic and completely unique to the Paramount brand.
Autumn Rooms in Newcastle
Autumn Rooms sells a whole line of merch adding to their catering offering, cafe and coffee bar. One of the favourites is their bottle bags are disguised as a beautiful tote but have pockets to fit three full sized bottles.
Pigeon Whole Bakers in Hobart
Pigeon Whole has a household name in Tasmania and a high priority stop-in for visitors of Hobart, so it’s no surprise that people get around their range of merch. The diner mug, featuring their name on one side and the pigeon courier logo on the other, is a cute way to remind you of that great sourdough and pastry.
Danielle Alvarez
Chef, recipe developer and cookbook author, Danielle Alvarez, shared a limited edition picnic bag in homage to a chapter from in her new book, Recipes For a Lifetime, called “Small Tins and Salted Things”. The Picnic Bag sold out, but you can still take a look here.
Brooki Bakehouse Signature Apron
The Sunseeker Market Bag
Native Drops Pet Nat Cap
Getting started on merch
Whether you have an idea for your merch or looking for guidance, Worktones can help you create something unique and representative of your brand identity.
The process starts with a meeting to download your brand essence and what type of merch will be a good fit for your business and customers. We’ll then work up a proposal, either customising existing Worktones product or creating something completely bespoke.
To learn more about our custom work, click here.
Ready to get started? Contact us.
