COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Established in 1995, NTUC Foodfare was set out to be a different kind of business - one driven not by profit, but by a social purpose of providing affordable, tasty and healthy food accessible to all. Today, as part of FairPrice Group, we will continue to strive towards excellence with a desire to make a difference in the communities we serve. We strive to provide good value meal options to the workforce and their families.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Job Scope:
The Research and Development (R&D) Chef for the Singapore/Asian Market plays a pivotal role in creating and developing innovative food products for the company's portfolio of:
- Value added frozen convenience foods
- Bakery products
- Sauces and pastes
- Pureed products and desserts.
In addition, the R&D Chef provides consultation services to clients seeking OEM projects.This role requires a deep understanding of current and upcoming cuisines in SIngapore, consumer preferences, and regional regulations, coupled with the ability to offer flexible solutions and multiple options to clients. The R&D Chef will collaborate with cross-functional teams to conceptualize, design, and present various product options tailored for the client's needs and preferences while maintaining the company's quality and safety standards and objectives.
Key Responsibilities:
- Internal and External Customer Focus and OEM consultation: Act as a consultant to clients seeking OEM projects, understanding their requirements, preferences, and target markets. Tailor product development to meet the unique needs and preferences of FMD client's and target markets, offering 2-3 product options for FPG Food Services and OEM projects, and incorporating client feedback into the development process.
- Product development, testing and cost management: Formulate and create new food products that cater to the unique tastes and dietary preferences of the Singapore and Asian market. This includes recipe development, trials, and optimizing product taste, texture & presentation with respect to cost. Develop cost-effective recipes that align with pricing expectations and regional cost structures while maintaining high product quality.
- Documentation: Maintain detailed and accurate records of recipes, ingredients, and processes for consistency and reproducibility, considering regional variances. All developed recipes and processes are company proprietary information and proper documentation on a restricted shared drive is necessary for internal audits and business continuity
- Innovation and Market Research: Continuously seek opportunities to improve product offerings by exploring new ingredients, cooking methods, and packaging solutions. Share findings with FMD management.Continuously refines R&D process to reduce R&D timelines, and refines production and R&D handover to ensure shorter trial and error for full production runs. Support timely testing, upscaling and commercialization of projects. Stay updated on local and regional food trends, consumer preferences, and regulatory requirements to identify opportunities for product innovation and OEM projects.
- Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including marketing, business development, procurement, and production, to ensure successful product launches in the Singapore and Asian market. Ensures consistencies in R&D samples through end product after first production run matches R&D samples and pilot production run samples.
- Regulatory Compliance and Quality Assurance: Ensure that all products comply with local and regional food safety and labeling regulations. Establish and maintain quality standards and monitor the consistency of product quality through production processes in line with Asian market expectations.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or higher degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, or a related field.
- Min 10 years of experience in culinary or food product development, preferably in the Asian market.
- Strong knowledge of local and regional food safety and quality assurance practices.
- Familiarity with production kitchens and large batch production process for R&D recipe adaptation: Bakery (asian style bakeries using tangzhong dough), retort process, sauce and paste production, pureed foods, cooked and frozen food production and local desserts.
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with a high degree of openness and adaptability. Able to delegate work effectively to ensure best result outcome in a short period of time.
- Creative thinking, a passion for innovation, and the ability to incorporate Asian culinary elements into product development.
- Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Attitude Characteristics:
- Open mindedness: An open-minded approach to customer demands on recipe and product development, as well as various methods to achieve the same or better outcome.
- Resourceful and proactive self-starter: Able to work independently to research, trial and record recipes or techniques. Seeks help
- Adaptability: Given the dynamic and diverse nature of Asian cuisine, the R&D Chef should be adaptable and willing to embrace change, innovation, and regional variations.
- Passion for Learning: A continuous desire to learn about new ingredients, cooking techniques, and cultural aspects that can be integrated into product development.
- Systematic and Strong Attention to Detail: A strong commitment to detail and systems is a minimum requirement. This involves developing and documenting material specifications, recipes, methods and quality and specification of raw materials and finished product to ensure customer satisfaction and protect proprietary information.
- Collaborative Spirit: A willingness to work closely with cross-functional teams and incorporate diverse perspectives (marketing, commercial heads, production leads) into product development.
- Resilience: The ability to handle setbacks and challenges with resilience, learning from failures, and persistently striving for culinary excellence.
