Salt Cafe earns award for health focus after declaring its premises completely smoke-free

Whangarei's Salt Cafe has received a Smokefree Cafe Award after banning smoking from its premises - the 17th Northland cafe to do so.

Another Northland cafe has gone smokefree, earning an award for its health focus.

Salt Cafe in Whangarei is offering Smokefree outdoor dining after making its entire premises
Smokefree.

"We have never encouraged smoking and don't provide ashtrays so our customers have a better dining experience, but when people smoke outside it comes wafting back into the cafe and everyone can smell it," says Nicole Grant, Salt Cafe owner.

"People would use empty cups and saucers as ashtrays, it was disgusting so we wouldn't even deal with cleaning them, and we just threw them away."

Owners Nicole and Braydan Grant were acknowledged by the Cancer Society and the
Northland DHB with the presentation of a Smokefree Cafe Award.

There are now 17 cafes in Northland that have made their outdoor dining areas totally smokefree with many more considering it.

Evidence shows that a smoking ban does not have a negative impact on businesses; often it has a positive effect.

Making your outdoor area smokefree is easy; spaces like this do work and don't require policing, Northland DHB said.