Time to move on for Foodstuffs bosses

Two of New Zealand’s three Foodstuffs co-operatives will have a change of leadership in the near future, with the heads of the Auckland and Wellington operations both moving on from their roles.

While Foodstuffs (Wellington) managing director Tony McNeil has already signalled that he will be leaving his position in March next year, Tony Carter announced this week that he would also be stepping down from the roles of managing director at both Foodstuffs Auckland and Foodstuffs (NZ) in two years.

Mr Carter has indicated he intends to focus on independent directorship roles in the future, such as his current role as a non-executive director of Vector, and would not be seeking another full time executive position.

While he is not willing to talk about his legacy just yet, Mr Carter said he will have been with Foodstuffs for 17 years by the time he retires from his managing director positions and it was time for the company to look forward to the next phase in its leadership.

He added that Foodstuffs had always taken a long-term view to succession planning.

“This has ensured that our unique culture and values are maintained and our strategies are kept consistent. So even though my departure will be nearly two years away, this continued approach will enable the board time to find the right person to lead our organisation into the future.”

An announcement of a successor is expected early next year, at about the same time that Foodstuffs (Wellington) will have a new managing director after Mr McNeil departs.

He told NBR that the search for his successor was now in the final stages, after he first announced his resignation about eight months ago.

He said that like Mr Carter, he intends to take on more independent directorship roles after finishing with Foodstuffs.

But both men still have a lot on their plate to deal with before they can put their feet up, with both Wellington and Auckland continuing to invest in new stores and refurbishments.

Mr McNeil said Foodstuffs (Wellington) had spent about $500 million on new stores and the refurbishment of existing supermarkets in the past 10 years, with another few hundred million earmarked for the next few years.

He confirmed that the co-operative was looking to open seven new stores in the next two years, including several in buildings that had been purchased from rival supermarket chain Woolworths, and that there were more supermarkets in the pipeline.

As well as new stores, the Wellington group is planning to open a new $70 million distribution centre in Palmerston North, with $20 million of that sum invested in the automation side of the warehouse.

The state-of-the-art facility is due to open in October and is expected to be fully operational by March next year.

Further north, Mr Carter has his own supermarket openings to oversee, including planned new Pak’n Save stores in Papamoa and Te Awamutu, as well as several new New World stores, major upgrades of other supermarkets and a new chilled and frozen warehouse near Auckland Airport.

He said the company had a capital expenditure budget of between $80 and $100 million a year, which was topped up by expenditure from the owner/operators and there had been no plans to reduce that amount in the current economic climate.

“Foodies tend to take a long-term view anyway and look to the future, more than anything that is happening right now, so the general economic situation has not affected our capex.”