Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce Cotterill

Episode 34: Chris Quin


Listen Later

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 34, our guest is Foodstuffs CEO, Chris Quin. 

The supermarket industry is never far from the headlines. Whether we’re talking about grocery prices, retail crime or allegations of monopoly pricing, the supermarket is front and centre.

But they are also massive businesses playing a critical role in our daily lives and our communities. 

Chris Quin is the CEO of Foodstuffs North Island, the largest grocery business in New Zealand. His leadership experiences have seen him through an outstanding career that includes over two decades at Telecom/Spark, before joining the grocery giant.

He grew up in a family that moved around a lot but ultimately settled in Wellington where he attended St Pat’s Silverstream College near Wellington, where he became Head Boy. An accounting degree from Victoria University followed, while working part time at a supermarket (what else?) to pay his way through his studies. 

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Chris Quin speaks passionately about the twenty-four years he spent at Telecom and Spark, his passion for technology and his two failed attempts at winning the top job there.

But it was the challenges of the grocery world that ultimately saw him sit in the CEO’s office, and from where he has made his mark for the last decade.  We talk in detail about the drive to keep groceries affordable and the efforts to merge Foodstuffs’ North and South Island businesses in order to continue the search for maximum productivity. Quin is forthright in his views of the importance of the merger and his reaction to the Commerce Commission ruling that it should not proceed.

We also discuss the alarming boost in retail crime over recent years, and how facial recognition technology is one of many technology-based tools helping to win that fight.

Chris Quin is the leader of one of our biggest businesses, and one with which we all interact more than any other. In sharing his experiences there are plenty of lessons for aspiring and established leaders alike.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce CotterillBy iHeartRadio NZ


More shows like Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce Cotterill

View all
Nine To Noon by RNZ

Nine To Noon

20 Listeners

Gone By Lunchtime by The Spinoff

Gone By Lunchtime

26 Listeners

The Mike Hosking Breakfast by Newstalk ZB

The Mike Hosking Breakfast

65 Listeners

The Front Page by NZ Herald

The Front Page

19 Listeners

The Agenda by The Alternative Commentary Collective

The Agenda

11 Listeners

The Leighton Smith Podcast by Newstalk ZB

The Leighton Smith Podcast

114 Listeners

The Detail by RNZ

The Detail

61 Listeners

The Property Academy Podcast by Opes Partners

The Property Academy Podcast

38 Listeners

Between Two Beers Podcast by Steven Holloway & Seamus Marten

Between Two Beers Podcast

92 Listeners

Shared Lunch by Sharesies

Shared Lunch

12 Listeners

Kiwi Yarns by Stuff | Brodie Kane Media

Kiwi Yarns

18 Listeners

Keep The Change by nextAdvisory

Keep The Change

12 Listeners

The Dom Harvey Podcast by Dom Harvey

The Dom Harvey Podcast

75 Listeners

30 with Guyon Espiner by RNZ

30 with Guyon Espiner

19 Listeners

Making Cents by Frances Cook

Making Cents

13 Listeners