Jason Witehira’s story is a classic rags-to-riches tale. His stellar supermarket career began in 1984 when he drifted into a shelf-stacking role at his local Rotorua supermarket; now, he’s the owner of one of the biggest New Worlds in the country and a prominent leader in the Māori business community.
Witehira was just 16 when he left school and began working at his local supermarket. He’s said he didn’t consider a career path in the supermarket industry at first – it was just a way to get a paycheck – but after encouragement from others he began to enjoy his work. He quickly developed a curiosity about the varied aspects of running a supermarket and soon began rising through the ranks.
In 1997 he became the first Māori retailer to be offered a Foodstuffs scholarship, giving him the chance to buy into his own supermarket. The next year he bought New World Taumarunui before moving to Auckland and buying the New World at Botany Town Centre in 2001. In 2010 he bought the Victoria Park New World, one of the company’s biggest and busiest stores.
For someone who has said he was an average student at school, Witehira has had considerable business success. In 2016 he won the Outstanding Māori Business Leader Award from the University of Auckland Business School, giving a tearful speech where he talked of the important role of family and mentors in his achievements.
Outside the supermarket industry, Witehira also has prominent roles in several different Māori business groups. He is the chair of Ngapuhi Asset Holding, which owns several businesses and has an extensive interest in fisheries. The company is planning a community and civic hub to revitalise Kaikohe. Last December he took up a role as a director at Moana New Zealand, the largest Māori-owned fisheries company in New Zealand.
He has investments in several properties, including a small lifestyle block in Northland. He lives in Auckland with his wife Kimiora, who he has credited with a large part of his success. They have four children, one of whom also works in the supermarket industry.
2018: $60 million