Sales Development Representative at Paris Gourmet Inc.

Carlstadt, NJ

Full-Time

Reports to:

Director of Brands

Salary: $70,000

Since 1983, Paris Gourmet has sourced and delivered the world's finest specialty foods to professional chefs, starting with one founder's simple realization that talented chefs deserved better access to gourmet ingredients.
Today, we're one of America's leading specialty food suppliers, offering more than 20 proprietary brands across pastry, chocolate, beverage, gelato, bread, dairy, and savory categories, delivered nationwide through a network of 100+ independent distributors.
Everything we do is in service of the chefs and culinary professionals who trust us to fuel their craft. We're looking for a
Sales Development Representative (SDR)
who can confidently own outbound and inbound prospecting, qualify high-fit leads, and set our sales team up for success.

The Sales Development Representative (SDR) is responsible for identifying, engaging, and qualifying high-fit prospects such as chefs, food service operators, retailers, and potential distributor partners, and running first-conversation discovery calls before handing off sales-ready opportunities to our Sales teams.

This role owns the top of the sales funnel and make sure every lead generated through digital campaigns, trade shows, and referrals is well-qualified before it reaches the field.
Metrics for success will include outbound activity, qualified leads generated, and conversion to qualified meetings for our sales team.

• Respond to and qualify inbound leads generated by marketing campaigns, website inquiries, trade shows, and referrals
• Proactively source and engage outbound prospects (chefs, food service operators, retailers, and potential distributor partners) who align with Paris Gourmet's ideal customer profile
• Research accounts and contacts to assess fit, purchasing potential, and timing
• Clearly disqualify low-fit opportunities to protect the sales team's time and focus

• Lead initial conversations to uncover a prospect's needs, current suppliers, menu or product goals, and buying process
• Ask thoughtful, consultative questions about culinary needs, volume, and distribution channels
• Clearly communicate Paris Gourmet's value, including product quality, reliability, and the breadth of our proprietary brand portfolio, and recommend next steps
• Determine when a prospect is ready to advance to a Sales Team or the Director of Brands
• Document call notes and turn qualified conversations into tracked opportunities in the CRM

• Maintain clean, accurate CRM records and detailed call notes (Hub Spot experience a plus)
• Use CRM tools (tasks, sequences, reporting, etc.) to manage daily outreach activity
• Partner with the marketing team to improve lead flow, campaign feedback, and conversion rates
• Follow and help refine SDR processes as the sales team evolves

• Provide clear, thorough handoffs with context and qualification insights to sales teams and the Director of Brands
• Align with the sales team on ideal customer profile, messaging, and qualification standards
• Participate in feedback loops to continuously improve lead quality and consistency
• Support overall pipeline health across our distributor network

• Test and optimize messaging for different segments — chefs, food service operators, distributors, and retail buyers
• Maintain relationships through outreach sequences, templates, and follow-up cadences from first-touch to confirming that purchases occurred
• Identify gaps and opportunities in outreach performance and bring ideas to the team

• To excel in this role, you should possess the following qualifications:
• 1–3 years of experience in sales development, inside sales, or a similar prospecting role (food and beverage distribution experience a plus)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to speak confidently about product quality and culinary applications
• Comfort running discovery calls and asking business-level questions
• Experience with a CRM platform (Hub Spot experience preferred)
• Organized, self-directed, and comfortable managing a high volume of outreach
• Coachable, curious, and eager to grow with the company
• A genuine interest in food, culinary trends, and the specialty food industry is a plus

Everything we do is in service of the chefs and culinary professionals who trust us to deliver quality,…