1 Min. with a Superhero: CEO of Fruit & Veg, Brian Coppin
by Fred Roed on 11/08/10 at 9:17 am
2 comments
Fruit & Veg City is an iconic brand within the SA shopping landscape and we are very excited and honoured to talk to co-founder Brian Coppin. Brian is one of South Africa’s leading businessmen and is also a very successful entrepreneur. A classic story, Brian started his career in the retail industry as a cashier and is now a CEO – and we were fortunate to catch Brian in amongst his VERY busy schedule.
Certainly not – we went from one store to the next and one concept to the next. It was only once we opened in Gauteng in 2000 that we started planning on becoming a force in the fresh retail category.
How were the first couple of years for you? Was it overnight success stuff, or were there ever times when you felt like you’d end up in the 97% of entrepreneurs having to call it a day?
The 1st store at Access Park, Cape Town was an overwhelming overnight success, but the next 4 stores much more of a challenge, and it was only the success of the 1st store and loads of luck that kept us from ending up as one of the 97% having to call it a day.
The addition of eat-in facilities like the ready-to-eat goodies, smoothies, pizza and toasted sandwiches seems to have attracted a new market to the stores, with city slickers and yuppies coming in to get their breakfast and lunch fixes. What impact has this had on your turnover?
It has turned us into a true fresh destination and a real “Food Lovers” market. Diversifying to the Freshstop platform (our 24-hour convenience stores located at Caltex forecourts) has helped us offer a range of fresh and convenience items, specifically identified to meet the needs of convenience shoppers. Freshstop is a convenience store brand with a twist. In addition to offering consumers essential groceries, a significant percentage of each of the in-store floor space is dedicated to fresh produce.
Fruit & Veg City seems to have done a real transition in the last 10 years from the corner grocer to a major competitor in the food retail segment, holding its own against the likes of PnP and Woolies. How do you feel about this?
We are extremely proud of becoming a significant player in the retail landscape of South Africa.
Being in the business you’re in, you have your finger on the pulse of the SA consumer. What is your feeling on our economy over the next 5-10 years? Do you feel confident in our growth and competitiveness against other countries – or do you feel concern for our future?
We see huge opportunities for growth in the future of South Africa, with loads of blue skies for our brands and our country.
Thank you Brian for chatting to us and providing us with your insights!
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.
Tags: 1 Minute with a Superhero, interview, superhero interview
Ian D. Samson
Aug 11th, 2010
Interesting article, but F&VC does NOT have the freshest fruit & veg in the country, nor are its prices reasonable – take the potato price now – gone up by R10.00 per kilogram just because of some claimed “shortage”. Yeah, right, shortage in the profit margins!
Woolworths fruit & veg beats F&VC any day, every day! At least they don’t allow fruit-fly, squashed oranges, smashed avocados, furry grapes, …
A Silva
Aug 11th, 2010
Ian has a point the quality of F&V has dropped
i find that P&Pay fruit and veg is freasher and there prices are compatible and time cheaper. F&V has lost there plot from a Fruit & veg store to a supermarket ,yes they have become a convence store (one stop shopping) just like all the chain stores. Go back to basic and look after the f&v cause that is the core of your businnes, and the rest will flow.