Associate, Pantry Development

Founded in 2013, Home Chef is the leading meal solutions company with both a retail and online presence. Available online at  and in retail at more than 2,100 Kroger grocery stores, Home Chef is committed to inspiring and enabling more people to cook simple, delicious meals, no matter how busy they are.

In 2023, Home Chef introduced a new brand, Tempo! Tempo features a rotating selection of ready-to-heat meals delivered directly to your door. These meals are better-for-you versions of familiar favorites, designed to save you time and reduce stress while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Our Tempo menu includes options that are protein‑packed, fiber‑rich, calorie and carb conscious, keto‑friendly, and dietitian‑approved.

Similar to our recipes, we recognize that variety is the spice of life, and therefore, our employees also bring their uniqueness and color to our fantastic team. We’re eager to work with humble team players and pragmatic next‑level thinkers to innovate on Home Chef’s offerings.

The Pantry Development Associate will report to the Director, Culinary and support all tactical responsibilities related to Home Chef Culinary pantry development including onboarding, maintenance, and associated Supply Chain processes.

• Pantry Development & Maintenance:
  • Facilitate the Culinary onboarding process for all new ingredients in collaboration with Food Supply Chain and FSQA including ingredient creation
  • Work with Food Supply Chain to schedule and prioritize samplings and associated processes
  • Communicate to the culinary team new ingredient developments
  • Monitor impact of meal ratings due to specific ingredients and worth with Food Supply Chain to mitigate any issues by reformulating or sourcing new ingredients
  • Execute tactical weekly ingredient processes related to customer facing menus
  • Maintain pantry database in admin
• Support Culinary Shorts and Replacements Process:
  • Approve shorts and replacements from the culinary perspective in a timely manner, holding high standards (coverage includes working on‑call nights and weekends)
  • Work with procurement managers and chefs to find suitable replacement ingredients for various situations
  • Collaborate with Recipe Testing Associate to communicate new instructions due to shorts to Customer Support
  • Monitor impact of shorts on weekly meal ratings and communicate learnings to all stakeholders
• Assist Quarterly Pantry Processes:
  • Monitor and execute proposed ingredient swaps at time of menu publish
  • Collaborate on ingredient alignment
• Culinary General Work:
  • Actively participates in daily stationing & tastings of R&D meals; supports sampling for Culinary R&D, New Product Development, and Food Supply Chain
  • Attends weekly Culinary Team meetings

• 1-2 years of experience in a rigorous fast‑paced work environment
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects and initiatives simultaneously with a results‑oriented approach
• Basic knowledge of Google apps such as Gmail and Google Sheets preferred
• Independent self‑starter inclined towards finding solutions without significant oversight
• Passion for food & willingness to eat all meals created by chefs
• Must be able to taste and provide thorough feedback on every meal and ingredient sample test in the kitchen, including vegetarian, pork, chicken, steak, and seafood meals.
• No food restrictions or allergies if working in the office (for Tasting purposes)

Perks and benefits

• Candidates can experience Home Chef as a customer – enter promo code PEOPLE
  30 for $30 off your first order!
• Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance available
• Paid holidays, sick time and vacation time
• 401(k) program
• Flexible spending accounts for qualified medical, dependent care, parking, or transit expenses

We are humble team players. We are warm and gracious with team members and customers. We seek feedback to improve ourselves – and respectfully listen to and accept input.

We are pragmatic next‑level thinkers. We come up with novel and unique ideas. We explore new strategies to avoid being constrained by conventional thinking.

We take ownership. We approach ambiguous problems, prepared to dive in,…