A TYPICAL ANNUAL SHOPPING LIST

4.8 million kg of beef 2.4 million kg of chicken 1.45 million kg of lettuce 236,700 kg of tomatoes 84 million buns, rolls, bagels and muffins 5.3 million litres of milk 18.8 million kg of potatoes for processing 1.3 million kg of cheese 12.8 million eggs 328,000kg of Hoki come home from a long day’s shift work, sometimes a double shift, and we would play chess and he would always just beat me on the last game.’’

Mr Wilson concedes his father may have been hustling him a little bit, but says this taught him to work hard for a win. ‘‘I guess for me, my makeup is I hate to lose, I just can’t stand losing, I love competition.

‘‘But I will mop the best floor – if I see another person mopping, I’ll do it better. If I’m making a cheeseburger, I’ll make the best cheeseburger in the world.

‘‘I’ll take them on any time, and that’s just me. It might take me a few minutes to get up to speed but I’ll be busting to beat them, trust me.’’

His first big break at Mcdonald’s came a few years after he started, when his manager at the time, Jenny Gilbert, offered him an assistant manager position at the Queen St restaurant.

Ms Gilbert, who no longer works for Mcdonald’s, says she is not at all surprised at where Mr Wilson has ended up. ‘‘It’s quite a systemised organisation so I think it becomes quite fascinating to people who think like that. He was very good at what he did and I saw that potential in him.’’

She remembers a very intelligent, ‘‘quite intense’’ person who had set his sights above working part-time in the kitchen. He was a man who lived life to the full both at work and outside of work and enjoyed people and socialising.