Asian food retail veteran John Glover has taken over buying and marketing functions at Indonesian retail group Matahari Putra Prima (MPPA), which operates the Hypermart hypermarket chain and Foodmart food stores.
Glover joined the group in January, taking over as chief merchandise and marketing officer.
Glover last year returned to his native Australia to set up his own consulting company, having spent some 20 years living and working in the Asian retail and wholesale business with giants such as Metro, Ahold and Hero.
But CEO of MPPA Noel Trinder, with whom Glover worked during his years at Royal Ahold in Malaysia, lured him back to Asia with the Indonesian group.
“It was a hard decision after moving back to Melbourne, but MPPA is a strong group with a big investment in expansion and new concepts. Given this, and the fact that I enjoy the retail market, especially in Asia, I accepted the role,” Glover told Asiafruit.
Glover has already embarked on a review of MPPA’s fresh food procurement processes, and started work on a new fresh food distribution centre, which is set to be built in Jakarta.
MPPA operates in a range of formats with its Hypermarket hypermarkets, Foodmart (Supermarket, Gourmet and Express) stores and Boston Health & Beauty chain. The group is aiming to become Indonesia’s number one multi-format retailer. As well as accelerating its expansion, MPPA plans to renovate 60 stores over the next five years. Fresh food is seen as key vehicle to growth, where the group plans to develop direct sourcing.
