Starting his working life as a checkout operator at Pak'nSave Moorhouse in Christchurch at just 15 years of age, Foodstuffs South Island's Head of Category and Promotions, Justin Waddell, said that other than selling suits for several months early on in his career, his feet have been firmly planted in the supermarket and FMCG industry ever since.
Throughout his career of over 20 years, Waddell has held several senior roles at Foodstuffs South Island, including Retail Programme Manager and Group Manager for Pak'nSave, before taking on his current role, where he leads a team of more than 50 team members.
The Category and Promotions team is the main point of contact for suppliers. It is responsible for gathering and analysing customer insights to drive results across the South Island's Pak'nSave, New World and Four Square stores.
It's a role that Waddell's said was a huge privilege.
"I love that we're a big part of Kiwis' everyday lives. It's a responsibility I don't take lightly," said Waddell.
That passion has led his team to deliver some exciting initiatives, such as the ticketed Everyday Low Price range across Pak'nSave, Four Square and New World stores and the Foodstuffs Emerging Supplier competition, as well as looking at new ways to meet changes in customer needs.
"Even if we looked back just three years ago, one of the biggest trends was the premiumisation of products, so customers looking for premium versions of everyday products like milk and bread."
Waddell has seen a significant change where customers have become far more price savvy. As a team, Foodstuffs focuses on different ways to save its customers money, whether through targeted campaigns or working more closely with suppliers.
Waddell, who jokingly calls himself a Cantabrian who lived in Auckland for ten years, has been based in Christchurch for several years now with his wife, who's also originally from the city.
Relishing the opportunity to be back in Garden City and close to both sides of their extended family, Waddell has lately taken up running, going from a complete beginner to competing in over 20 half and full marathons in just four short years.
"Work-life balance is essential to me, and something I'm big on encouraging within my team too, and exercise is good for the body and the mind."
Waddell has done several New Zealand marathons and has his sights set on someday doing the New York or London marathon, adding that running is where he does his best thinking.
Alongside a good healthy dose of exercise, Waddell advocates for his team always to bring the best versions of themselves to the workplace.
"As well as just being as genuine as you can be, building on the teams' strengths and self-reflection are both strong focuses of mine. It's important to continually evaluate what you've done and how to improve the engine'."
Waddell said that as an individual, he always tended to want to move on to the next project due to working in a fast-paced environment as the fmcg industry, and he emphasised that understanding where he's been and what the future opportunities are always on his radar.
