Julian Benefield, Foodstuffs North Island

• has taken a major legal and crisis management role in helping Foodstuffs navigate COVD-19 – from dealing with unions, working with government on rapidly changing COVID-19 regulatory issues, and advising on the innovative “virtual queue” tech created during lockdown
• has led on Foodstuffs’ $75 million acquisition of Leigh Fisheries, as well as on deal integration and the subsequent sale of US and domestic JV interests
• has made use of technology to increase productivity of Foodstuffs’ legal operations, automating hundreds of contracts which resulted in significant time savings
• successfully implemented other process improvements, including streamlining legal and contracting processes and internal ways of working
• extensively promoted Foodstuffs’ charitable trust through various speeches and guided the trust on sound legal and governance structures      
• led major commercial contracts including ZURU, Mainfreight, and Dunnhumby

Benefield has been consistently recognised for outstanding achievement and contribution, including being named in NZ Lawyer’s 2019 In-house Leaders List, a top-10 finalist for 2019 In-house Lawyer of the Year at the NZ Law Awards, and finalist for 2020 NZ In-House Lawyer of the Year.