Senior Food & Drink Development Manager in London

The Role

Department: Food / Brand

Reports to: Head of Food

Direct reports: 1-2

Working hours: 40 hours per week, 3-4 days in London, 1-2 days from home.

Location: Central London

Company Summary

Coco di Mama is the UK’s most-loved Italian to Go brand, on track to be a £50 million sales brand in the next year. Our goal is to create loving fans in our customers in our London stores, serving our all-day Italian menu and specialty coffee, in our nationwide delivery kitchens, through our corporate catering platform, in our nationwide travel sites and more recently through our retail ranges available in Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

At Coco di Mama, we are an innovative and entrepreneurial team who are constantly seeking ways to evolve the brand proposition to stay relevant and grow the brand to new customers and new occasions. Our values are Can do, Individual, Approachable and Organised. If you think this is you, then read on. Our corporate sustainability policy is well embedded – we believe in going above and beyond with the spirit of Italian Generosity to our teams & customers, and we have committed to be Net Zero by 2040.

Purpose of the Role:

Reporting to and working closely with Head of Food, work to develop the brand’s menu innovation, demonstrating a true understanding of the customer, the company, the competition, training requirements and the kitchen operations along the way. You will lead and own Coco di Mama’s Food and Drink development strategy and deliver the 4 x seasonal menu launches across our 13 London stores, 130+ Delivery Kitchens & a handful of motorway service outlets. You will develop products that stimulate customer interest in the brand and ensure our food and drink proposition exceeds that of direct competitors in terms of innovation and quality within a competitive pricing framework. Also, be the brand’s allergen & nutritional champion – fully responsible for the end-to-end process of supplier information input to customer information output.

The ideal candidate will be commercially minded, help ensure our menu delivers against theoretical food cost margins and cash margin targets. Also able to collaborate with the Azzurri Group supply chain function to quickly bring new products to market and look for efficiencies to improve processes and costs. You will collaborate with Marketing, Operations, L&D, and Finance to deliver key menu launches.

Key Accountabilities:

• Design and develop the food development strategy for the next 12+ months and execute it effectively across all stores and other channels.
• Innovate & develop for new menu launches and seasonal specials, which deliver on the food & drink strategy and respond to current customer, trend, commercial and competitor positions.
• Creatively identifying new categories and opportunities in the product range.
• Lead an inspiration process to gain alignment from senior stakeholders on the new menu development and determine customer and operational testing requirements.
• Run food shows for the Senior leadership team to propose new products that are commercially and operationally sound for new menu launches.
• Complete product ownership, including pricing, packaging, and planograms. Align with senior business stakeholders.
• Working with Azzurri Purchasing & Supply Chain to manage processes to ensure all elements of menu delivery are optimised (specs, costings, sample library, operational complexity, PSC (Purchasing & Supply Chain) briefing, providing forecasts are correct).
• Collaborate with the Marketing team to deliver timely, accurate and successful menu launch campaigns, including attending all photoshoots to organise the food and be the key food guardian.
• Enhance existing and build new relationships with suppliers to ensure the quality and consistency of products and work with them to brief new/improved products for the business.
• Owner for all things Coco packaging. Key contact for packaging supplier Yates, new packaging briefs, sample library, new packaging trials & feedback, stock management and re-orders (along with PSC), cost-saving initiatives and delivering the Azzurri ESG strategy for packaging and recycling.
• Key food contact for customer queries. Develop action plans against customer experience feedback on food quality to increase customer satisfaction.
• Ensure strong relationships with store operators and key stakeholders within franchise businesses to ensure menu development wins the hearts and minds of all staff. Involves; collaborate with the training team to develop accurate and timely process cards and generating ‘launch packs’ that encapsulates all key information for teams for menu launches.
• Working closely with QS, fully responsible for the end-to-end process of supplier information input to customer information output. Involves using our in-house recipe management system with 100% accuracy, liaising with suppliers on product information input, generating reports and creating customer friendly Allergen & Nutrition guides. Additionally, managing the information flow through to the Natasha’s Law allergen labelling system.
• Management of the product & recipe input of the stock system, ensuring recipes and prices are accurate for accurate commercial/wastage data.
• Owner for sample and development kitchen management – space is tight and within one of the stores, so an organised and diligent approach here is needed.

What you will bring:

• Minimum 3-4-year experience in a good development role, ideally across a range of categories.
• Food to Go /QSR experience desirable, plus any FMCG/retail experience.
• Working in a fast-paced customer-facing environment.
• Proven ability to innovate in menu development.
• Proven ability to balance creative trend-led food and drink within commercial requirements.
• Proven ability to plan and manage effectively to deliver projects consistently on time and to the commercials required.
• Experience in injecting new ideas and enthusiasm.
• Understanding and responding to customer needs.
• Degree educated or equivalent experience.
• A real passion for food, drink, coffee, and Italy.

Key Skills:

• Positive can-do attitude.
• Creative and proactive with the ability to challenge precedent where appropriate.
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills – able to work across functions to ensure plans have buy-in across the whole organisation.
• Bright, fast thinker who takes initiative and likes problem-solving.
• Ability to work at pace and high capacity.
• Strong attention to detail, particularly related to allergens and customer safety.
• Strong project management skills.
• Strong business and commercial acumen – constantly consider the impact of food commercials.
• Driven and self-sufficient.
• Genuine desire to meet customer needs and maintain high standards of quality and consistency.
• Good IT and analytical skills.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary.
• 20% performance related bonus.
• Pension scheme.
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays.
• Free coffee and food at Coco di Mama.
• 50% Discounts across Azzurri Group brands – Zizzi, Ask Italian, Dave's Hot Chicken.
• Opportunity to grow & develop with a fun, supportive, and ambitious team.