Culinary Product Specialist

Van Eerden Foodservice began in 1920 when Andrew Van Eerden formed "Van Eerden Company" to distribute fresh produce to grocers and restaurants in the Greater Grand Rapids area. His dedication to finding the freshest fruits and vegetables for his loyal customers led to daily train rides to the Chicago market. It is this commitment to freshness and customer service that has allowed Van Eerden to thrive for nearly 100 years.

Now in its fourth generation of family ownership, Van Eerden Foodservice still remains focused on the business principles and values first established by Andrew Van Eerden in 1920. Committed to a philosophy of "Service First", Van Eerden Foodservice looks at situations from the customer's point of view, understanding that real solutions provide the customer with what they need to succeed in their business.

Summary:

Under the direction of the Van Eerden Corporate Executive Chef, this multi-functional position will play a key role in further establishing the Van Eerden Culinary department. As a product expert, this customer-facing position will provide technical & culinary support to further the advancement of strategic product lines.

Duties:

Customer Consultations & Test Kitchens

• Create and implement a process for administrative pre-work for Customer Consultations to prepare the Corporate Executive Chef for the upcoming consultation. This includes managing the intake of Chef Consultation Request Forms, scheduling consultations, managing the Test Kitchen calendar, scheduling pre-test kitchen alignment meetings, pulling customer menus, completing customer research, competitive research, market research, broker coordination, assembling welcome gift bags, uploading welcome slides on TV screens and ensuring the test kitchen waiver is signed by all participants.

• Complete culinary pre-work for test kitchens, including gathering needed ingredients, pulling samples, prepping and cleaning. Other culinary pre-work may be required at the direction of the Corporate Executive Chef.

• Create and implement a process for administrative post-work for Customer Consultations to ensure the customer

leaves the Consultation with clear next steps. This may include: sending the customer an action plan, costed recipes, photos from the consultation, coordinating samples and more.

• Complete ongoing tasks in the test kitchen, including managing inventory, restocking supplies and routine cleaning.

Product Specialist & Sales Support

• As an extension of the Corporate Executive Chef, to serve as the in-market product specialist.

• Work in conjunction with Sales leadership to visit customers and engage them with best-in-class product knowledge to drive sales. As the product expert, this may include performing product demonstrations, product recipe ideation, coordinating broker support, presenting point of sale material and more.

Marketing Assistance

• Work with Marketing to write and cost out recipes for seasonal promotions, flyers, customer experience events, social media and more.

• Work with Marketing to execute the culinary needs for internal events, including Sales meetings, leadership meetings, Christmas breakfasts, Drivers Appreciation events, VE Universities and more.

• Work with Marketing to execute culinary needs for numerous regional Customer Experience events and vendor showcases. This includes prepping dishes, product demonstrations and more.

This list of duties is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities that management may deem necessary given the situation or need.

Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent

• 2-3 years of Culinary background

• Willingness to work in the Van Eerden office and test kitchen during business hours

• Up to 30% travel required

• A motivated self-starter who works well in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment

• Excellent verbal/written communication and organizational skills