The role sees Mark responsible for leading the team tasked with working alongside vendors to put products on shelves in Farm Source stores across the country. He says that while parts of his job such as the management of vendor relationships and trading terms are generally straightforward, the more complex and interesting aspects of the role come when looking ahead.
"As a business one of our main focuses is helping our farmers to future-proof; we want them to get the products and services they need at the right price to be profitable, sustainable and optimised," says Mark Ennis, Head of Category Strategy.
"That means that our product range is never static - what we sold last year is different to what we sold the year before and the year before that... we're always trying to evolve," says Mark who looks at things like emerging technology, compliance and regulation changes to help predict the types of products and services farmers may need down the track.
"That is the more interesting side of my role - it is working out how we maintain a future focus and help get in front of what these new products and technologies are, so we can get them available to our farmers to start using."
Our farmers are constantly having challenges thrown at them, we want to equip them with solutions. Mark says that when it comes to predicting future demand for products or services, it comes with varying levels of difficulty.
"A big part of farming is using traditional products at seasonally relevant times. We have lots of data and expertise to forecast demand and make sure we have those products available when needed at the right price. When it comes to new products and technology it is more difficult - farming is a complex system and introducing something new isn't always easy. If we find an improved product that provides a milk production gain and it's clear and scientifically proven, then we can expect adoption as who doesn't want to produce more milk? If it's a technology which requires farmers to do things differently that's a slower adoption curve," he says.
"Take monitoring collars for example - it took a long time before we really started to get a groundswell of adoption but now we've got a decent amount of collars out on farm. We've got a good relationship with Allflex and farmers can now see how that technology can provide them with more information for better decision making leading to improved efficiency. Its gone from a small group of early adopters to a larger group of farmers recognising 'its a logical investment for me and my farm'."
Originally joining Fonterra around seven years ago after relocating from London to New Zealand, Mark started off in a Category Manager position and has seen his role change and develop over time as the team's focus on technology and innovation has grown.
Prior to moving to New Zealand, Mark worked in the motor insurance business for 13 years, covering areas like warranties, breakdown programmes and insurance cover.
"I have no farming background whatsoever and no retail background either for that matter. So I came in with a really fresh perspective," he says. "I was able to pick it up very fast and come up with some good ideas and challenge some conventions. My strong commercial background helped me look at stuff quite differently to others who came from a retail or farming background. I probably asked a lot of stupid questions in my early days and maybe a few provocative ones too, but I was able to help us think about how we might do things differently."
It is his curiosity that Mark credits for keeping him motivated in his role.
"I'm the annoying person that always asks, 'Why do we do it that way?' Can we do it better?' What's a different approach?'" he says. "I'm never satisfied. I think complacency is your worst enemy so I'm always trying to think about every category, every product, every vendor and how as a business we can be doing things better, distinguish ourselves from our competition and give the best possible experience to our farmers."
When it comes to competition in the rural retail market, Mark says a lot of work goes into setting and maintaining competitive pricing but considers Farm Source's full value proposition as the thing that truly sets it apart.
"We work really hard on our pricing and we can know that we are competitive, particularly on the products that matter most. We can't be the cheapest on every product but we are confident that farmers get a good deal when they come to Farm Source. Just as important as price is our commitment to be the easiest retailer to work with," he says.
"We try to get the balance right around having a competitive retail price that you can have confidence in, while making sure there's always availability so you can get the product when you need it. We then overlay that with the service component."
"Here at Farm Source we have a really technically competent field team that can get out there on farm and help with important decisions like agronomy, nutrition or whatever else is happening on farm the team are there to help with a high level of support. The same with our teams in store - they are rock stars and do a brilliant job of supporting our farmers."