View from the C-Suite

In this weekly feature Michael Avery gets up close and personal with South Africa’s business and political economy leaders, to uncover what makes them tick, keeps them up at night and keeps them going through the Covid storm. This week’s guest has gone from a small town, Outshoorn, to running the country’s most successful poultry outfit, surviving several heart attacks along the way an Astral Foods CEO Chris Schutte. His early life was marked by a love of sports (performing exceptionally well in both rugby and boxing) and strong friendships, attributes that have remained throughout his adult life. Not inspired by academic pursuits, Chris completed his schooling by attaining the barest minimum required marks while in his spare time experiencing the world of labour and business by working in a variety of part-time jobs, even sometimes more than one job on one day, from the early age of 14 years. These jobs included feather duster maker, grape harvester, ostrich farm guide and clothing salesman. Avery finds out more about a remarkable career in this broad ranging interview