Development Chef

Established in 1997 as the first manufacturer of sushi for the UK supermarket industry, Taiko has evolved into the most innovative manufacturer of Sushi, Food To Go, Prepared Meals and Snacking products in the UK, supplying Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s to name a few. Over the past 25 years Taiko has launched more first to market Sushi and Food to Go products than any other sushi manufacturer in the UK.

About You:

• Must have experience working with Japanese cuisine, ideally in a development role focused on creating new sushi products and recipes
• Strong technical knowledge of sushi preparation, ingredients, and flavour profiles
• A deep understanding of Japanese culture and culinary traditions
• Experience working with product development and manufacturing processes
• Ability to take client feedback and translate it into commercially viable products
• Creative, detail-oriented, and passionate about food innovation
• Confident working directly with clients and presenting concepts

Key Responsibilities:

This is a hands-on, creative position working from our development kitchen, where you’ll play a key role in shaping and refining our sushi and Japanese food offering.
You’ll work closely with a variety of clients to:

• Develop new sushi dishes and recipes from concept through to production
• Tailor and adapt menus to suit different client requirements
• Produce samples and manage the end-to-end development process
• Present dishes to clients, conduct tastings, and gather feedback
• Refine ingredients, flavours, and textures based on client needs
• Work closely with manufacturing teams to ensure successful scale-up
• Continuously test, improve, and relaunch products where needed

We're proud to offer:

• Opportunity to grow your career alongside with us with available apprentice program
• Brilliant support services designed to enhance your physical, mental and financial wellbeing.
• Annual discretionary bonus subject to business and overall performance
• Discretionary Life Assurance
• Discretionary Income Protection
• Group Personal Pension
• Private Medical Cash Plan
• Bespoke reward platform including access to retail, cinema & gym discounts.
• 50% off your food every time you dine with us for you and 3 friends.
• Contribute towards our award-winning sustainability initiatives that delivers progress against 9 UN sustainability goals. We're committed to responsibly sourcing and all our seafood, therefore we only use source sustainable fish. All our packaging is recyclable and 80% of our packaging is already made from recycled plastic.
• Annual Awards ceremony celebrating our success and offering winning Managers free trips to Japan.

About us:

Come roll with us and be part of something big. Celebrate global success across:

• Over 1500 retail kiosks globally (YO!, Panku, Mai Taiko Snowfox & Bento)
• Our Taiko manufacturing and distribution centre
• 63 YO! restaurants
• 50 major retail partners
• 3700 loca