Position Overview The Executive Chef is the culinary leader responsible for driving product innovation, maintaining world-class food quality, ensuring recipe standardization, and supporting manufacturing excellence across all Ponkathir product categories. The role bridges culinary expertise with industrial food manufacturing by developing scalable recipes, ensuring consistent taste across batches, improving production processes, and creating market-leading Ready-to-Eat (RTE), Ready-to-Cook (RTC), Frozen, Retort, Heat & Eat, and value-added food products.

The Executive Chef shall work closely with Production, Quality Assurance, Procurement, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Packaging Development, and the Managing Director to strengthen Ponkathir's position as an innovative FMCG food brand.

Key Objectives

- Develop innovative, commercially viable food products.
- Maintain consistent taste and quality across every batch.
- Standardize recipes for industrial-scale production.
- Reduce production losses and improve product yields.
- Build strong culinary systems and SOPs.
- Ensure food safety and regulatory compliance.
- Improve customer satisfaction through superior product quality.
- Support business growth through continuous innovation.

Reporting Structure

Primary Reporting: General Manager

Parallel Reporting : Managing Director The Executive Chef is expected to provide regular reports, presentations, product updates, trial reports, and innovation proposals directly to the Managing Director whenever required.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product Development & Innovation

Lead the complete New Product Development (NPD) lifecycle.

Responsibilities include

- Identify market trends and consumer preferences.
- Develop innovative Ready-to-Eat products.
- Develop Ready-to-Cook products.
- Develop Frozen Foods.
- Develop Retort Products.
- Develop Heat & Eat products.
- Develop Curry Bases.
- Develop Masalas.
- Develop Gravies and Sauces.
- Develop Snacks.
- Develop Traditional Kerala Products.
- Improve existing products.
- Conduct benchmarking against competitor products.
- Conduct sensory evaluations.
- Develop premium product ranges.
- Develop export-oriented products.
- Work with Marketing for seasonal products.

2. Recipe Standardization

Ensure every product has documented standards.

Responsible for

- Standard recipes
- Batch sheets
- Ingredient specifications
- Cooking parameters
- Cooking temperatures
- Cooking times
- Yield calculations
- Portion control
- Shelf-life validation
- Nutritional calculations

3. Product Consistency

Maintain consistency across every production batch.

Responsible for

- Taste
- Aroma
- Texture
- Appearance
- Color
- Weight
- Portion size
- Spice level
- Moisture
- Viscosity
- Finished product quality

Develop systems to eliminate batch variations.

4. Manufacturing Support

Provide technical culinary support to Production.

Responsibilities

- Scale-up trials
- Pilot batch supervision
- Commercial production validation
- Process optimization
- Yield improvement
- Waste reduction
- Labour optimization
- Equipment utilization
- Cooking process improvements
- Continuous process improvements

5. Quality Excellence

Work closely with Quality Assurance.

Ensure

- HACCP compliance
- GMP compliance
- FSSAI standards
- Internal quality standards
- Food safety procedures
- Product specifications
- Product stability
- Shelf-life monitoring

Participate in internal audits.

Support external audits.

6. Continuous Product Improvement

Regularly review existing products for improvement.

Focus on

- Taste enhancement
- Cost reduction
- Shelf-life extension
- Better packaging compatibility
- Cooking efficiency
- Yield improvement
- Customer feedback implementation

7. New Raw Material Evaluation

Evaluate

- New ingredients
- New spices
- Functional ingredients
- Alternative suppliers




- Imported ingredients
- Cost-effective substitutes

Conduct approval trials before implementation.

8. Cost Optimization

Work with Procurement and Finance.

Responsibilities

- Reduce recipe costs
- Improve food yield
- Reduce wastage
- Optimize ingredient usage
- Improve gross margins
- Evaluate alternate ingredients

Maintain product quality while reducing costs.

9. Documentation

Prepare and maintain

- Master recipes
- SOPs
- Trial reports
- Product specifications
- Process flow charts
- Cooking instructions
- Packaging instructions
- Shelf-life reports
- Product approval records

10. Production Training

Train production teams on

- Standard recipes
- Batch preparation
- Cooking methods
- Hygiene
- Portion control
- Critical Control Points
- Product quality

Develop skill enhancement programs.

11. Product Trials

Plan and execute

- Lab trials
- Pilot trials
- Factory trials
- Shelf-life trials
- Consumer trials
- Market testing

Maintain detailed trial documentation.

12. Cross Functional Coordination

Work closely with

- Production
- Quality
- Procurement
- Marketing
- Sales
- Warehouse
- Packaging Development
- Supply Chain
- Finance
- Senior Management

13. Packaging Development Support

Support packaging improvements by ensuring:

- Product compatibility
- Shelf-life performance
- Microwave compatibility
- Frozen storage compatibility
- Retort compatibility
- Transport durability

14. Food Safety & Hygiene

Ensure strict compliance with

- HACCP
- GMP
- GHP
- FSSAI Regulations
- ISO Standards
- Company Hygiene Standards

Promote a strong food safety culture.

15. Vendor Development

Support Procurement in

- Vendor evaluations
- Ingredient approvals
- Vendor audits
- Sample evaluations
- New supplier development

16. Customer Complaint Resolution

Support Quality Team by

- Investigating complaints
- Root cause analysis
- Product improvements
- CAPA implementation
- Preventive measures

17. Research & Market Intelligence

Continuously monitor

- Industry trends
- Consumer preferences
- Competitor products
- Emerging ingredients
- Recent technologies
- International food innovations

Present innovation ideas to Management.

18. Strategic Support

Support the Managing Director in:

- New business opportunities
- Product launches
- Business expansion
- Export product development
- Institutional product development
- Brand positioning through innovation

Authority Matrix The Executive Chef is authorized to:

- Approve recipes and product specifications.
- Recommend new products and product improvements.
- Conduct and approve trial batches.
- Recommend raw material changes (subject to Quality and Management approval).
- Recommend process improvements and production modifications.
- Recommend discontinuation of underperforming products.
- Approve culinary SOPs and training materials.

1. New Product Development (NPD)

KRA

Develop innovative and commercially successful food products aligned with the company's growth strategy.

KPIs

- Launch minimum 2–4 new products per quarter.
- Achieve 90% on-time completion of NPD projects.
- Commercialize at least 80% of approved development projects.
- Develop one seasonal or festive product every quarter.
- Reduce product development cycle time by 20% year-over-year.

2. Product Quality & Consistency

KRA

Ensure every product consistently meets approved taste, texture, appearance, and quality standards.

KPIs

- Maintain 98% batch consistency score.




- Customer complaints related to taste/quality <1%.
- Internal product rejection <1%.
- Zero deviation from approved master recipes.
- Monthly sensory evaluation score >95%.

3. Recipe Standardization

KRA

Develop and maintain standardized recipes and manufacturing processes.

KPIs

- 100% products documented with approved recipes.
- 100% batch sheets updated.
- Recipe revision turnaround within 7 days.
- Yield deviation less than 2%.
- SOP compliance 100%.

4. Manufacturing & Process Improvement

KRA

Support production in improving efficiency and reducing operational losses.

KPIs

- Improve production yield by minimum 3% annually.
- Reduce cooking losses by 5% annually.
- Reduce rework by 10%.
- Support successful scale-up of 100% approved products.
- Reduce production downtime caused by recipe/process issues.

5. Cost Optimization

KRA

Improve profitability without compromising product quality.

KPIs

- Reduce recipe costs by 3–5% annually.
- Reduce ingredient wastage below 2%.
- Improve gross margin through recipe optimization.
- Identify minimum 5 cost-saving initiatives annually.

6. Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance

KRA

Ensure complete compliance with food safety and quality standards.

KPIs

- Zero critical food safety violations.
- HACCP/FSSAI compliance 100%.
- Internal audit score >95%.
- Zero product recalls due to formulation errors.
- Corrective actions closed within agreed timelines.

7. Training & Team Development

KRA

Develop a skilled culinary and production team capable of maintaining company standards.

KPIs

- Conduct minimum 2 technical training sessions per month.
- Train 100% new production staff.
- Competency improvement score >90%.
- Maintain updated training records.
- Cross-train key personnel in critical processes.

8. Research & Market Intelligence

KRA

Continuously identify food trends, consumer preferences, and innovation opportunities.

KPIs

- Present minimum 2 innovation proposals every month.
- Conduct quarterly competitor benchmarking.
- Evaluate minimum 10 new ingredients annually.
- Submit monthly market trend reports.

9. Documentation & Systems

KRA

Maintain complete and accurate technical documentation.

KPIs

- 100% documentation accuracy.
- SOP updates completed within required timelines.
- Trial reports completed within 48 hours.
- Product specification sheets maintained for all SKUs.

10. Cross-Functional Collaboration

KRA

Provide technical support to all departments to ensure successful product commercialization.

KPIs

- Support 100% product launches.
- Meet project timelines with Marketing and Production.
- Internal stakeholder satisfaction score >90%.
- Resolve interdepartmental technical issues within agreed timelines.

Balanced Scorecard

KRA

New Product Development

Product Quality & Consistency

Recipe Standardization

Manufacturing & Process Improvement

Cost Optimization

Food Safety & Compliance

Training & Team Development

Research & Market Intelligence

Documentation & Systems

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Strategic Initiatives & Management Support

Total

Management Expectations The Executive Chef is expected to:

- Lead Ponkathir's culinary innovation and product development strategy.
- Ensure every product delivers consistent taste, quality, and customer satisfaction.
- Drive continuous improvement in recipes, production processes, and operational efficiency.
- Foster collaboration across R&D;, Production, Quality, Procurement, Marketing, and Sales.
- Build a culture of food safety, discipline, innovation, and excellence.
- Support the General Manager and Managing Director in strategic business initiatives, including new product launches, capacity expansion, export opportunities, and long-term brand growth.

Pay: From ₹80,000.00 per month

Benefits

- Provident Fund

Work Location: In person

📌 Industrial Chef (Executive Chef) (Uthukuli)
🏢 Ponkathir
📍 Uthukuli