Working day - Chef Experience One
"Every day is different, some are fast "seat of the pants" days working on product innovation and fronting the business with customers - others are about driving through the ideas created within the business. A normal day can start at 8am with a chef team meeting on the customer projects and setting out the day - it's never quiet and organisation is critical. Individual chefs could be looking at recipe development, product costings, quality control panels and cross-departmental communication. We work closely with the Factory Production and Technical departments to ensure our ideas are feasible and this also improves our knowledge of factory processes and capabilities. We finish the day with a summing up meeting and what is required tomorrow, leaving at 6pm. "Seat of the pants" days cover a wide range of areas and it is these that keep the adrenalin pumping and remind you that, without your chef training, you wouldn't last long. You could be going to London or organising trips abroad looking for new ideas in food, packaging and ways of selling, standing in the kitchen with a team needing to develop a wide range of recipes with time against you, or being involved with the customer and business at the launch of a new range you have developed. These days are not usually 9-5 but these are often the days which are the most exciting! My initial thought of product development was working in a kitchen creating recipes for the supermarkets, and while that is true to a point I have greater satisfaction knowing that I am also improving my ability in management, business and production … and Product Development has delivered a whole new base to my strengths. As well as all this, my culinary knowledge and skills across a wide variety of cuisines have continually grown and improved through innovation trips to Europe and stagieres in some of the best restaurants in the country."