Culinary Innovation Chef: Global Flavor & New Product Lead

Shenandoah Valley Organic, LLC; Virginia; Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Farmer Focus is seeking a Culinary Innovation Chef to lead the ideation, development, and commercialization of new foods and flavors. You will collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Operations and R&D to scale products from concept to market, leveraging a deep culinary repertoire and trend awareness to drive growth across Retail and Foodservice channels.

The role requires extensive culinary expertise and a passion for global cuisines, with a focus on mainstream, mass-market appeal.

Qualifications

• Culinary Arts Degree, and/or 5 years operating as Chef; 2 years CPG Development experience preferred
• Passion for food and culinary creativity
• Strong drive to impact the national food scene
• Knowledge of global ethnic cuisines
• Strong leadership and project management skills
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Understanding of USDA and FDA regulations
• Understanding of Fully Cooked Poultry
• Understanding of MAP and product shelf-life

Responsibilities

• Flavor: Develop “Gold Standard” foods, flavors and recipes that the company can commercialize for the Retail and/or Foodservice channels
• Innovation & Innovation Process: Managing innovation from Ideation to Commercialization
• Collaboration: With Marketing, Sales, Operations and R&D to successfully scale and launch new products
• Budget Management: At the team level on an annual basis; at the project level, understanding innovation retail prices and how to engineer recipes that maximize distribution opportunities and company profits
• Regulatory Compliance: Understanding of USDA and FDA product regulations, ensuring products meet industry regulations and safety standards
• Culinary Trends: In conjunction with Marketing and Sales, staying current on culinary trends and flavor adoption cycles
• Market Visits: Getting in market to better understand culinary trends and opportunities for the company both domestic and global
• Competitive Evaluations: Provide detailed and actionable evaluations of competitive food items to inform our product development and innovation
• Presentations: Will present in various settings, including to Executive Leadership, company team members and customers
• Taste Panels: Conduct internal and external taste panels to refine recipes and ensure viability of new food items
• Production & Commercialization: Knowledge of production processes and what it takes to commercialize food items; expectation is to learn over time to increase our efficiency in innovation and product development

Education

Culinary Arts Degree, and or 5 years operating as Chef 2 years CPG Development experience preferred

Job description

Farmer Focus is seeking a Culinary Innovation Chef to lead the ideation, development, and commercialization of new foods and flavors. You will collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Operations and R&D to scale products from concept to market, leveraging a deep culinary repertoire and trend awareness to drive growth across Retail and Foodservice channels.

The role requires extensive culinary expertise and a passion for global cuisines, with a focus on mainstream, mass-market appeal.