A day in the life with Ben Woodhouse.

Food Development Controller at Bidvest Foodservice.

 

 

Being a member of the food development team at Bidvest Foodservice is a varied role, and there is no such thing as a “normal day in the life”!

The primary purpose of our role is to excite our customers with inspirational menu solutions. This could mean anything from a formal new product presentation to a seasonal menu solutions presentation or even a lunch or dinner for a managers and chefs conference.

Generally the day will start around 04:30 so that we can be in the customer’s kitchen (wherever that may be in the country) for around 07:00, giving us time to prepare for the day ahead.

Making sure all of the stock is in place, crockery and mise en place is ready is the first job of the day (along with a strong coffee, obviously!). Then it is a matter of discussing with the customer how they would like the day to unfold.

“Service” will follow at the chosen time, with all the dishes prepared and presented to the pre-designed specification, ensuring it fits the brief for cost, skill set and customer requirements. We then present and talk through the dishes individually explaining what they are, why we designed them, and how we believe they can benefit the customer.

Following feedback from the presentation, it is time to clean down and depart. This could then mean driving to the office for a category meeting, supplier presentation or new product development session for one of our new own brand product ranges. Or it could just mean spending some time to simply plan for the presentations in the weeks ahead; arranging sample deliveries, presentation venues, customer site visits or even a “high street trawl” to explore what is new and evolving in the foodservice market. Then we start all over again the next day!


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