---
title: 'Category Manager – Emerging & International at Foodstuffs North Island'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/category-manager-emerging-international-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-ssetwcwka7tb'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-16'
---

# Category Manager – Emerging & International at Foodstuffs North Island

- **Company:** Foodstuffs North Island
- **Location:** Auckland, New Zealand
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/foodstuffs/aa4258f2-6abe-432d-810d-aa5897a12d61

## Job description

Category Manager – Emerging & International

Ko wai mātou – About us

Kia ora. We’re Foodies. You know New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square right? That’s us! With 300+ stores and over 24,000 Foodies across Te Ika‑a‑Māui, our North Island Co‑op has the privilege of helping New Zealanders get more out of life. Locally owned, we reflect the communities we serve, and we celebrate our people – our taonga – every day for being uniquely them.

Our Merchandise team works with supplier partners and store teams on category ranging, buying, pricing and promotions so we can get the right products on the right shelves at the right time for our customers.

Te Tūranga – About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to help shape our International and Local categories, bringing your own flair to how we range world-class international products and local artisan suppliers, connect with diverse customer communities and help stores bring these products to life.

You’ll work with a diverse supplier base, including small business owners and importers who have poured their passion, identity and life’s work into their products. This calls for a Category Manager with high EQ who can combine empathy and cultural awareness with strong commercial thinking, disciplined execution and a sleeves-rolled-up approach.

In this role, you’ll:

- Support the category strategy for International and Local, using customer insights, commercial performance and global and local trends to unlock growth.
- Build trusted relationships with suppliers and Owner Operators, creating clearer and more consistent ways for suppliers to engage with stores.
- Shape ranges that reflect New Zealand’s diverse communities, then drive awareness and help stores understand how to bring those ranges to life.
- Lead pricing, promotions, range changes, new product development and supplier plans while maintaining strong control of financial and operational performance.
- Deliver relevant seasonal programmes and continually explore what we could do differently to create a world-class customer experience.

Ngā painga – What we offer

We’re committed to providing awesome experiences for our people, including a range of benefits such as:

- Free carparking – over 1,000 carparks including free EV charging
- Onsite café with subsidised meals, mini‑mart, and 5% discount at our retail stores
- Southern cross health insurance
- Flexible working options, a day off on your birthday
- In‑house learning and development programmes, flu vaccinations, and social network groups (we call them Tribes)

He kōrero mōu – About you

You’ll be commercially sharp, customer-led and genuinely passionate about food, particularly the artisan, international and ethnic space. You could come from an FMCG, grocery retail or supplier background, but most importantly, you’ll know how to build trust across a broad range of people while keeping pace with a busy, detail-heavy portfolio.

Ideally, you’ll bring:

- Experience in FMCG, B2B, grocery retail, account management or a supplier-side commercial role.
- High emotional intelligence, empathy and the ability to build respectful relationships with diverse suppliers, small business owners and store teams.
- Strong customer and commercial instincts, with an understanding of how demographics, culture and market trends influence food choices.
- A process-driven and highly organised approach, with the capacity to manage a high volume of emails, paperwork, NPD activity and competing priorities.
- Curiosity, initiative and resilience, with the ability to think strategically, negotiate effectively and put your head down to deliver quality work at pace.

Experience awesome. Achieve awesome. Be awesomely you.

We’re proud to have a focus on Diversity & Inclusion here at Foodies and welcome courageous behaviour, encourage togetherness, inspire our people to be their best selves in our Foodies whānau.

If you require accessibility support to ensure you can fairly access our recruitment process, please reach out to  Recruitment.Foodstuffs@foodstuffs.co.nz.  Accessibility support could include, interview location, sign language interpreter, assistive technology.

Don’t ‘cart’ around – apply now!

## About Foodstuffs North Island

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: New Zealand's largest grocery retailer, a cooperative of locally owned PAK'nSAVE, New World, Four Square, and Gilmours stores, serving communities across the North Island.
- **Entity Type**: Private (cooperative)
- **Headquarters**: Auckland, New Zealand (Support Centre in Mangere; additional offices in Wellington and Palmerston North)
- **Founded**: 1922
- **Founders**: Not publicly available (cooperative structure, no individual founders)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Retail grocery and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
- Target customers: B2C (consumers via retail stores and online), B2B (businesses via Gilmours wholesale)
- Mission: "Making sure New Zealanders get more out of life"

## Products & Services
- **PAK'nSAVE**: Discount grocery stores focused on value pricing.
- **New World**: Full-service supermarkets with a wide product range.
- **Four Square**: Convenience stores tailored to local communities.
- **Gilmours**: Wholesale supply for businesses, cafes, and restaurants.
- **Online Shopping**: Click & collect and home delivery options across banners.
- **Mobile Checkouts & Technology**: Self-service checkouts, mobile checkout options, and innovative store designs (metros, cut-throughs) to speed up shopping.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private cooperative)
- **Key Metric**: 24,000 employees (“Foodies”); 350+ stores; ~4.08 million customer visits per week; over 5 million individual grocery items sold daily.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: 100% New Zealand owned and operated; owned by over 300 local grocery retailers (cooperative members). Partners with local suppliers, stocking over 60,000 products.
- **Growth Signals**: Investing ~$100 million annually in new and transformed stores; planned ~8 new store openings in FY24; $50 million invested in innovation in 2021; proposal to merge with Foodstuffs South Island to streamline operations.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Cooperative Model**: Local owner-operators have deep community ties, tailoring product ranges to local needs while benefiting from the scale of a national network.
- **Scale & Efficiency**: One of the largest supply chains in New Zealand, with dedicated distribution, logistics, and transport teams.
- **Customer-Driven Innovation**: Heavy investment in technology (mobile checkouts, online shopping) and store formats to enhance customer experience.
- **Workforce Development**: Largest trainer of butchers and bakers in New Zealand; strong internal career pathways including potential store ownership.

## Strategic Focus
- **Merger with Foodstuffs South Island**: A proposal to merge the two co-ops into one entity to streamline business operations.
- **Customer Experience**: Continuous improvement of product range, value, and convenience; leveraging data and analytics (e.g., Loyalty Insights & Customer Analytics Manager role).
- **Digital & Technology**: Investing in Salesforce, SAP, and other enterprise systems; hybrid roles in IT, analytics, and engineering.
- **Sustainability & Community**: Supporting local suppliers, reducing environmental impact, and serving over 1.4 million customers weekly.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as a “whānau” (family) with a strong sense of belonging; cooperative values mean every employee contributes to something bigger.
- **Work Arrangements**: Many support centre and supply chain roles offer hybrid work (e.g., Mangere, Wellington, Palmerston North). Store roles are on-site.
- **Career Growth**: Opportunities across retail, supply chain, support centre (finance, marketing, IT, legal). Pathways to store ownership for motivated team members.
- **Perks & Training**: Largest trainer of butchers and bakers in NZ; professional development programs; scale and security of a 100-year-old organisation.
- **Engineering & Tech**: Roles like Salesforce Technical Lead, Senior SAP Developer, SuccessFactors Support Analyst, and Deployment Specialist indicate a modernising tech environment.

## Sources
1. [foodstuffs.co.nz](https://www.foodstuffs.co.nz/news-room/Get-the-facts-fsni) – Company facts and figures
2. [foodstuffs.co.nz](https://www.foodstuffs.co.nz/working-at-foodies) – Working at Foodies overview
3. [jobs.lever.co/foodstuffs](https://jobs.lever.co/foodstuffs) – Current open positions (hybrid, tech roles)
4. [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/foodstuffs-auckland-limited) – LinkedIn company page (followers, employee count, revenue)
5. [foodstuffs.careers](https://foodstuffs.careers/about-us.php) – Careers site with culture and role descriptions

## Other roles at Foodstuffs North Island

- [Range and Supply Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/range-and-supply-manager-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-63yx9cntykfd) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Assistant Category Manager – Emerging & International](https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-category-manager-emerging-international-foodstuffs-north-island-fqzndak1cwsq) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Senior Financial Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-financial-analyst-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-vfqt4w15pshj) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [New World Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/new-world-associate-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-j83bz3kcatz7) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Engineering Assistant](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-assistant-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-7rer338bxcx9) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Butchery Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/butchery-specialist-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-yeywnhe3df1e) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Group Accounting Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/group-accounting-lead-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-e2ynd89qj2tt) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Supply Chain Business Improvement Specialist (Fixed-Term)](https://feeny.ai/job/supply-chain-business-improvement-specialist-fixed-term-foodstuffs-north-island-avxjqy438e57) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [QA Engineer - SAP SuccessFactors](https://feeny.ai/job/qa-engineer-sap-successfactors-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-rx2pggaef3dk) — Auckland, New Zealand
- [Hospitality and Conference Support Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/hospitality-and-conference-support-coordinator-foodstuffs-north-island-auckland-bpxwr0fj0p24) — Auckland, New Zealand