Brian Coppin goes from cashier to CEO

I have always wondered who the clever souls behind the Fruit & Veg City stores were, since I had once dabbled in a far less onerous aspect of retail and had my fingers badly burnt. To make your living flogging lettuce and beetroot always seemed to me to be a particularly cruel means of making a living. I imagined disconsolate greengrocers flinging themselves under the wheels of their suppliers’ trucks in order to finally not have to worry about all those rotting cabbages. So when invited to interview Brian Coppin, I jumped at the chance, at least as much by my own curiosity at what made this retail genius tick. I visualised an obsessive control freak who had aged before his time and had short shrift for anyone not associated with the bottom line. The person I encountered was someone entirely different from my naïve imaginings.

While waiting for Coppin (having arrived early), I strolled around the Food Lover’s Market Willowbridge in the Cape, determined to remain objective and professional, but soon I was drooling and all pretence at journalistic impartiality was compromised.

The market contains a cornucopia of incredible foods that would make Bacchus proud at the variety, quality and presentation of delicacies on offer. As Coppin subsequently told me, his most frequent complaint from friends and associates is that they came to these stores to “buy a couple of things” and soon were separated from a couple of thousand rand!

To understand the Fruit and Veg City empire, one has to understand the origins of its dynamic founders. Brian and Michael Coppin were virtually born into retail, since their father worked for OK Bazaars and the young Coppin’s would literally man the tills perched atop a milk crate. Once educated, they too joined OK Bazaars and became very involved with the buying of fresh produce for the Group.

Fortunately for this country, the entrepreneurial spirit flowed through the brothers and in their early 20s, they took the plunge and bought a Spar supermarket in Vanderbijlpark.

It was an unmitigated disaster and the Coppin brothers lost their boots through this venture.

When asked about the reason for their failure, Brian states in his candid manner, “We were all balls and no brains. Don’t try to take on a Hypermarket with a 150 square metre store.”

He is equally direct when questioned about their success. Hard work and a smidgen of luck played its part.

In their previous relationship with OK Bazaars, they were the only suppliers of fresh produce to the OK Group and in turn, the Group was their only customer. Around 1990, they began discussing the establishment of their own retail concern – and three years later, they borrowed R500 000 and opened their first Fruit and Veg City in Access Park, Kenilworth (Cape Town).

Within their first nine months, the store was so successful that they paid back their entire debt.

That Access Park store is still heaving, but more than a hundred Fruit and Veg City stores have sprung up like mushrooms all over South Africa.

The group has also expanded into sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritius, Reunion and Australia.

As a measure of their optimism and the validity of their business plan, the brothers have opened a store in Harare, Zimbabwe, which is doing surprisingly well, considering the parlous state of that country’s economy.

The Group is particularly strong in Namibia, with its own distribution business throughout the country as well as five stores located in all the main centres of that country.

The Australian operation lost money for the first three years of its existence, primarily due to the high cost of labour (7-10% of operational costs in South Africa and 25-30% in Australia).

Contrary to popular myth, workers in Australia are not significantly more productive than their African counterparts, despite the higher costs.

The Group also has a dedicated export division (FVC International) which led to some interesting logistical dilemmas during the recent Transnet strike. Produce that was destined for the European market was held up on the quayside in South Africa, and with his customary ingenuity, Brian was able to divert this to the Middle East, thus mitigating excessive wastage.

He tells me this anecdote as an almost matter-of-fact aside, which makes a welcome change from the whingeing and finger pointing that usually emanates from business owners where labour disputes are involved.

In the 17 years of its existence, the Fruit and Veg City group has grown to the point where it currently has a staff complement of 7 000 people. This staggering growth has occurred without compromising on quality or providing excellent service to its customers.

A few years back, the Group was involved in acquisition negotiations with another retail behemoth, Pick n Pay. The deal was scuppered by the Competition Commission, and although Coppin has only good things to say about the Pick n Pay group, he is delighted that things turned out this way. The brothers have been able to remain in control of their business, and expansion of their brands has occurred organically.

Apart from the one hundred plus Fruit and Veg City stores, the Group also comprises 14 Food Lover’s Market emporiums.

One of the most rapid areas of expansion is well under way – the Group has made a deal with Caltex to convert its Starmart stores into Fresh Stop outlets. In these convenience stores, the bulk of the business comprises the sale of “cokes and smokes”, as Brian puts it. The Group is aiming to change this product mix to include more fresh convenience foods, and given its track record, it is highly likely to succeed.

What is the value proposition that sets this Group apart? Unlike traditional supermarkets, Fruit and Veg City is focused on providing great quality fresh produce at 60-70% of the price of its rivals. It does this by maximising economies of scale and leveraging its formidable buying power.

Since most people who shop at these stores are going to be using the produce immediately, the stores do not have the hassle of having to utilise expensive packaging or worry about extending the shelf life of products.

The Group controls its own distribution and is constantly refining its logistics, passing these savings on to its customers. It is by far the largest buyer from the network of municipal markets scattered around the country. Prior to its existence, the markets were slowly dying as the large supermarket groups established their own purchasing and distribution networks.

The FVC Group recognises the value of the nurturing relationships with the farmers who supply it, even involving itself in their planting processes and planning.

Many of the Group’s stores are franchises, highlighting the people management skills of Brian and Michael Coppin. Franchisees become the de facto custodians of a company’s brand and goodwill, and innumerable promising businesses have floundered on the altar of franchising. Unless franchisees buy into the vision and integrity of one’s business, the outcome is invariably gruesome.

Selecting the right people and training them properly is integral to everyone’s success and it is a testament to the success of the business that Brian cannot praise his staff and franchisees enough. He alludes to the fact that the Group comprises a very flat management structure – but whatever the structure, the business is doomed if the owners are not individuals of integrity and vision.

Given my own doomed forays into retail, I admire the empire that the Coppin’s and their team have built. For the record, Brian is open and engaging, but I quickly get the impression he does not suffer fools.

When asked about the current fixation with organic produce, his answers are concise and pertinent. Organic farming provides much lower yields and generally inferior quality merchandise, while the jury is still out on its perceived health benefits. By using fertiliser properly, the farmer is able to grow better produce for a better price, which is precisely what the customer wants.

Brian clearly loves what he does and he sees challenges as opportunities to grow.

We are very blessed to have retailers of the calibre of Brian Coppin in this country. I get the distinct impression that his successes to date are merely rungs on a very long ladder and there are many things with which he will yet surprise and delight us. Fruit and Veg City clearly has plenty of room to grow! ▲

George Joubert