Page 58 - Food&Drink magazine April 2022

REAR VIEW
Each issue we ask5 industry leaders five
questions about their
working life. This
month we talk to the South Pacific vice president for The Coca-Cola Company, Rob Priest.
The fast
1TELL US ABOUT YOUR manager positions were filled CURRENT ROLE. by women, which completely As ice Prpesident of South broke the industry norm.
Pacific, I lead The Coca-Cola I know without a doubt that Company’s operations in my experience working for our
4
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR
Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
We have a large portfolio of leading brands across the region, including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Powerade and many more.
My role is very much focused on working closely with our customers and bottling partner, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), to bring those brands to market in the right way.
It’s an incredibly diverse role, and I can definitely admit that every day is different – from innovating our portfolio, planning and executing huge brand campaigns, to educating our customers and consumers on our sustainability progress.
The achievement I’m most proud of is during that time is the majority of our sales general
bottling partner shaped my career and emphasised the great opportunities available across the Coca-Cola system.
We’re very focused on providing development opportunities for our people and promoting great talent into leadership roles.
3
I have learnt that driving change in personnel too quickly is not the right way to bring about change or deliver results.
When I started this role, I really took the time to ask the right questions and get to know my team.
I strive to lead in an informal, agile and approachable way, giving each team member the space they need to grow and feel empowered, which brings me a lot of fulfillment.
25-YEAR-OLD SELF?
If I was to give my 25-year-old self some sage advice it would be this: be patient. The saying “life is a marathon” is absolutely true, however, I like to think of it as a modern-day marathon where we are on the cusp of breaking the two-hour barrier.
WHAT IS ONE GOAL
✷ ADVERTISER LIST ADM Australia 09
Allied Finishes 02 A S Harrison & Co 27 AUSPACK Cover CEM International 15 Combilift 47 Foodbank 45 GS1 Australia 05 Hawkins Watts Australia 29 Heat & Control 35 HRS Heat Exchangers ANZ 17 Krones AG 39 Oterra 19 Matthews Australasia 51 MultiPack Foods 23 Result Group 11 Roxset Australia 13 SICK 37 SMC 43 SWA Water Australia 59 The Van Dyke Press 33 Wellman Packaging 60 Wiley & Co 25
2
WHAT HAS BEEN
YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE? I’ve been with the Coke System for a long time, and previously held a leadership role at our bottling partner Coca-Cola Amatil (CCEP).
WHAT WAS YOUR
YOU STILL WANT TO ACHIEVE?
We have a strong focus on creating a sustainable business and a better-shared future and I have two goals that I want to see us deliver on – and hopefully, exceed.
The first is our global World Without Waste goal of zero waste by 2030. We have made significant progress and are committed to playing a leading role, but there is a lot more to do and that really motivates me.
The second is to meet our target to reduce sugar across our portfolio sales by 20 per cent as part of the beverage industry sugar reduction pledge.
We are doing this across our portfolio and our continued investment in Coca-Cola No Sugar has seen significant growthinthecategory. ✷
BIGGEST MISTAKE AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
I don’t tend to look at experiences as mistakes,
I like to think of them as opportunities that help me think differently about how to do things next time.
5
58 | Food&Drink business | April 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au