Greg Foran, former CEO of Air New Zealand, has been named the next CEO of grocery giant Kroger.

Foran, a native New Zealander, took the helm at the country’s flag carrier from 2020 to last October.

This is not the first time Foran left his home country to take up a major leadership role in the US. Prior to his gig at Air NZ, he was the CEO of Walmart US from 2014 to 2019.

Foran’s latest appointment marked the end of Kroger’s extensive search process that began last March, when its former CEO, Rodney McMullen, resigned over ethics breaches.  

Founded in 1883, Kroger has grown into one of the largest American grocery retailers, operating more than 2700 supermarkets, fuel centres, and pharmacies across 38 states.

GlobalData MD Neil Saunders said the appointment is exactly what the grocery giant needs, citing Foran’s “very strong operational mindset, which will be helpful for rebuilding the e-commerce and logistics side of the chain”.

New Zealand was a ‘detour’

BusinessDesk described Foran’s time at Air NZ as “less of a destination and more of a detour”.

While Covid was partly the reason, Foran’s return home from Walmart already meant a US$16 million pay cut, the news agency said. He later had to cut jobs and pay, including his own, as part of his first tasks after joining the company. 

Foran took home about $7 million in total during his time at Air New Zealand from 2020 to last June. The last few months of his pay from June to October, when he officially stepped down, were not disclosed.

Meanwhile, McMullen took home $15.63 million in his final year at Kroger.

Foran said during an interview with Newstalk ZB earlier this week that his timing was “impeccable” and that he was pleased to take the job at Air New Zealand.

“It made me a better leader. I’ve had to learn some new things. I’ve had to deal with some issues I would never have had to deal with at Walmart or Woolworths, and that puts me in a better position, I think, to do a better job at Kroger,” he said.