Diesel theft and rising costs drive Brisbane caterer to close over Easter
Image: New Africa/Adobe Stock
A Brisbane catering company has been forced to shut its doors over the Easter period after a string of fuel line thefts and relentless cost pressures pushed the business to breaking point.
Dalton Catering, based in Fortitude Valley, has had the fuel lines on its delivery vans deliberately cut on two separate occasions within three weeks — a targeted tactic used by thieves to siphon diesel directly from vehicles. Owner Jerome Dalton, a 25-year hospitality veteran, says the incidents have cost the business thousands of dollars in repairs and lost revenue, compounding an already dire financial situation that stretches back to the pandemic.
Staff have been forced to contact police no fewer than 40 times over the past year as criminal activity around the business has escalated.
"This fuel crisis has just been the latest in a series of compounding hits to small hospitality businesses in Queensland since Covid," Mr Dalton said.
"In my experience once the prices go up they don't come down, so now we just have to deal with a new level of increased costs on almost every single item we purchase."
The diesel shortage affecting service stations across the country has only deepened the strain on operators like Dalton, for whom fuel is an essential operational cost. He says the targeting of his vehicles reflects a broader trend of desperation in the community.
"People are definitely getting more desperate, I've never had my HiLux van targeted before just to steal fuel," he said.
With the Easter trading window lost entirely, Dalton is calling on state and federal governments to step up with meaningful relief for an industry he says has been consistently overlooked.
"Every major industry gets support except hospitality, even though we're the largest employer in the country - we're just asking for some tax relief," he said.
"I think we've all seen Brisbane businesses go bankrupt in the past year. The percentage of them that survive is less than I've seen in any other state or country in the world.
"Every restaurant in Brisbane is feeling the same way, they might not say it, but as an industry we have never felt more exposed."
Queensland's hospitality sector is facing thinning margins, supply chain volatility, and now physical crime.
Jonathan Jackson, 7th April 2026
