Reports to: Senior Development Chef
Key Responsibilities:
- The Culinary & Innovation Chef will be responsible for the development of new product concepts working on customer briefs, blue skies concepts & existing product re-developments
- Recipe & concept development across several product categories including natural stocks, stock pastes, culinary sauce, filled pasta, flavoured butters & crumbs
- Responsible for repeat customer sample requests ensuring consistency & timely sample submissions and documentation of all data
- To deliver product & innovation presentations, samples & new product concepts to the business, and to manufacturing, foodservice and retail customers
- To communicate internally on project deliverables and externally to customers to meet their requirements
- To complete all paperwork including approved recipes, new raw material source data, recipe costings and product information sheet generation for all projects worked on
- To organise and prepare product samples for dispatch to customers daily. To track these deliveries with the couriers and issue despatch documents to the Chefs / BDM’s
- To prepare ingredient and packaging orders through inventory control against SOP
- To attend customer update meetings and progress project approvals through the stage gate process
- Co-ordination of benchmarking of competitor products including application testing of products
- Attendance at internal development meetings and sensory analysis panels as required
- To assist the Culinary & Innovation Technologists and C&I Managers with specific customer projects
- Maintain awareness of market, market insights, consumer, restaurant trends and competitor activity
- Assist in managing the Development kitchen to a safe working environment to meet GMP standards
- To document all work accurately according to established procedures & guideline
- To understand HACCP & Food legislative requirements
- General administration, kitchen & office duties
- Customer facing role, setting up feedback follow up meetings on projects
Skills / Qualifications/ Experience:
- Minimum of 2 years previous experience within the food manufacturing arena
- Culinary Arts Degree or similar qualification
- A passion for food with up-to-date trend knowledge on all areas of food innovation
- Microsoft office proficient
- SharePoint knowledge preferable but not necessary as training will be provided
- Good time management
- Good interpersonal skills
- Articulate Product Presentation Skills
- Proactive can-do attitude