R&D Chef-Retort

Curefoods; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food manufacturer based in Bengaluru is looking for an experienced Chef to oversee retort and frozen food production. This full-time position involves managing bulk cooking operations, ensuring adherence to quality standards, and coordinating with QA teams across different locations. Candidates should have at least 4 years in the industry along with strong culinary expertise in Indian dishes. The role requires flexibility to travel for vendor monitoring and trials.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in retort or frozen food production, commercial kitchen, or RTE/RTC industry.
• Expertise in gravies, dals, rice, and ready-to-eat/frozen products required.
• Hands-on experience with production equipment and processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage bulk cooking operations for retort and frozen food production.
• Ensure adherence to standardized recipes and portioning.
• Coordinate with QA & Production teams during processing.

Skills

Culinary expertise in Indian dishes

Experience with retort systems

Leadership skills

Production team management

Recipe scaling abilities

Tools

Filling lines

Packing & sealing equipment

Freezers (blast/plate/IQF)

Job description

About Curefoods

Curefoods is a Bangalore-based house of F&B brands, founded in 2020. The company operates 500+ locations across 50 cities in India, offering a diverse range of cuisines. Curefoods brings together brands such as Kitchens of EatFit, CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, Sharief Bhai, Olio Pizza, Frozen Bottle, Krispy Kreme, and Arambam. Each brand offers a distinct culinary experience, from healthier meal options to regional cuisines and indulgent desserts. The company operates through cloud kitchens and dine-in formats, focusing on food quality, hygiene, and sustainability. Its operations integrate technology and consumer insights to manage scale and efficiency.

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced Chef with expertise in retort and frozen food processing, large-batch commercial production, and standardized recipe execution. The role involves overseeing production consistency, process compliance, and continuous improvement to deliver high-quality shelf-stable and frozen food products.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and execute bulk cooking operations for retort and frozen food production (gravies, dals, curries, rice, biryani, khichdi, snacks, etc.).
• Ensure strict adherence to standardized recipes, portioning, viscosity, and batch consistency.
• Coordinate with QA & Production teams during cooking, filling, sealing, freezing and retort processing.
• Monitor CCPs and production parameters including time, temperature, viscosity, pH, freezing temperature, and packaging integrity.
• Drive improvements in taste, texture, shelf life, thawing stability, and product performance.
• Work closely with NPD/R&D for product trials, scale-ups, and reformulations.
• Support RCA & CAPA for process deviations, complaints, or quality failures.
• Travel to vendor facilities across multiple cities for production monitoring, trials, audits, and support.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in retort or frozen food production, commercial kitchen, or RTE/RTC industry.
• Strong culinary expertise in Indian dishes, gravies, dals, rice, and ready-to-eat/frozen products.
• Hands‑on experience with retort systems, freezers (blast/plate / IQF), filling lines, packing & sealing equipment.
• Ability to scale recipes from kitchen trials to commercial batch sizes.
• Leadership, communication, and production team management skills.
• Willingness & flexibility to travel to vendor sites across multiple cities.

Seniority Level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Research, Analyst, and Information Technology

Industries

Food and Beverage Services

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