An Adelaide man who was rejected by a supermarket giant before working as a trolley collector has made Australia’s top 250 rich list after building an $827 million empire.
Roger Drake is the founder of independent chain Drakes Supermarkets which operates 60 stores across South Australia and Queensland.
He came in at number 173 on the list, which was published by The Australian on Friday, after revenue for his supermarket chain hit $1.18 billion in 2023, according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator.
Mr Drake purchased his first supermarket in Adelaide 50 years ago, which he initially called Jack & Jill’s, overcoming setbacks and even rejection from another grocery giant.
An Adelaide man who was rejected by a supermarket giant has made Australia’s top 250 rich list after building an $827 million empire
‘I had visions of being a doctor, but my parents couldn’t afford to send me to university so I applied for a job at Woolworths supermarkets but they said I wasn’t suitable for retail,’ he told SALIFE in 2022.
‘I went across the road and got a job with Coles – collecting trolleys.’
After rising through the ranks to become a manager at Coles, Mr Drake resigned and bought a small store at Mitcham for $29,000.
‘When I made that decision to open our first store, I thought that both Coles and Woolworths all started as independents with one store – so the vision was always to grow the business so I could compete against the multinational chains,’ he said.
‘Having one store and being independent, we had the flexibility to cater for the local community and we brought in a lot of local products. We made sure we exceeded customer expectations every day we opened the doors.’
He’s fallen short of the list recent years, but hard work has got Mr Drake a place back among the ranks of Australia’s wealthy elite.
Mr Drake purchased his first supermarket in in Adelaide 50 years ago, which he initially called Jack & Jill’s, before Drakes Supermarkets was born
He’s fallen short of the list recent years, but hard work has got Mr Drake a place back among the ranks of Australia’s wealthy elite (pictured, with his son John-Paul Drake)
It is believed the supermarket chain’s latest set of financial accounts showed a 3.3 per cent increase in sales last year, with Mr Drake making a whopping $36million net profit.
The richest South Australian on the list was Chris Thomas, who owns Australia’s largest family-owned meat processing company Thomas Foods International.
He came in at number 82 after his meat processing plants in South Australia, NSW and Victoria turned over more than $2.7billion.
Gina Rinehart, who is the Chairperson of Hancock Prospecting, came in at number one after making $5.04billion profit for the 2023 financial year.
The list included 159 billionaires, including new entrants to the ranks, and 20 people aged 40 or younger.
