Development Chef â?? Sushi Innovation Specialist
Development Chef – Sushi Innovation Specialist
NPD - Taiko Acton- BONSAI
Contract: Full Time Salary: £48,000 - £51,500 Contracted Hours: 40
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.
The Role:
We’re looking for a Sushi-focused Development Chef with a passion for flavour, innovation, and customer-led development.
This role is all about pushing boundaries—developing standout Sushi products with exciting flavour profiles, blending authenticity with modern, trend-led influences. You’ll work cross-functionally with NPD, Commercial, Marketing, and Operations teams to bring new ideas to life at scale.
Working pattern: Monday to Friday – giving you consistency while still working in a fast-paced, creative environment.
About You:
- Experienced Sushi Chef (essential) with strong technical expertise
- Deep understanding of flavour balance, seasoning, and Sushi composition
- Passionate about innovation and pushing flavour boundaries
- Confident presenting to customers and bringing ideas to life
- Commercially aware with the ability to scale concepts into production
- Hands-on, organised, and thrives in a creative, fast-paced environment
- Create innovative Sushi concepts with a strong focus on flavour development and differentiation
- Translate customer briefs into unique, trend-led Sushi products
- Experiment with fusion flavours, global influences, and new ingredient pairings
- Deliver impactful customer presentations, telling the story behind your flavour concepts
- Develop recipes that balance flavour, cost, and scalability
- Prepare samples for tastings, food shows, and key customer meetings
- Conduct flavour benchmarking and competitor analysis
- Support factory scale-up, maintaining flavour integrity in production
- Continuously refine and elevate existing Sushi ranges
- 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 Manage
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