Vying to be best cafe

Is New Zealand's best cafe in Northland?

Cafe managers have a chance to prove they know how to serve up more than good coffee and could be in the running to win a sporty new Fiat 500S.

The Cafe of the Year Award is back for 2013 with new ingredients, new regions and a new smartphone app to help get into the game.

Cafe-goers who vote also go in the draw to win a regional prize of $1000 to spend in the café of their choice. There's also a grand prize of $5000 for one lucky consumer to spend at his or her favourite café.

Each cafe entering the award must have at least one dish on its menu containing Wattie's canned fruit and vege products and Goodman Fielder's Meadow Fresh or Tararua products.

Last year's inaugural search for the country's best cafe reaped entries from more than 400 establishments.

With more than 3000 cafes now operating from Cape Reinga to Bluff and higher trade awareness, the 2013 competition is bound to be even tougher.

Cafes can now register online and cafe-goers will soon be able to vote for their favourite by smartphone as well as text, online and Facebook. Entries are open until October 18.