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 cutting-edge 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:
- Current 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
- New 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 …

📌 Industrial Chef (Executive Chef) (India)
🏢 Important Group
📍 India