About 10 well-known Dunedin hospitality businesses have been listed for sale recently, including Zucchini Brothers, Del Sol and Long Dog Cafe.
Business owners looking to sell could not be reached, were unwilling to discuss their reasons or too busy to talk, but others in the industry say staffing and food prices may be to blame.
Hospitality Association branch president Mark Scully said lack of staff was the biggest contributing factor to businesses selling up.
"People have had enough."
Co-owner of Nova Cafe, Jizo Japanese Restaurant and Brew Bar Mark Fraser said most hospitality businesses would have had at least one or two foreigners on the payroll, but since the borders closed that manpower gap had been hard to fill.
Another significant issue was the price of ingredients.
Canola oil, which was used for deep frying, was a prime example. It had doubled in price since the start of the year.
ABC Business Sales hospitality specialist and broker Jason Marshall said Covid-19 gave owners a lot of time to re-evaluate what they wanted to do.
He was managing a handful of restaurant and cafe listings, such as Nichol’s Garden Cafe, Best Cafe and Moiety.
Most of the people he was working with were selling because they wanted a change of lifestyle.
He did not believe that more hospitality businesses were selling, but more high-profile ones were.
Dunedin had "fared extremely well" throughout Covid-19 and he believed it was a great time for people to enter the hospitality industry.
However, Mr Scully said it was not a good time to be on the market, as the last three years of trading would be an inaccurate reflection of a business’s usual revenue.
One family-run business co-owner said they had a conditional offer on their cafe, but it was for a lot less than they were asking.
There were people out there looking to buy, but there was not as much interest as she initially expected.
