itsu is a crusading, dynamic, & fast growing chain of Asian-inspired healthy food shops. itsu

[grocery] brings the itsu vision into retail and wholesale worldwide.

itsu and itsu [grocery] are the passion of Julian Metcalfe, co-founder of Pret A Manger. Julian

drives product & brand development and plays a key part of the day to day life in itsu [grocery].

itsu [grocery] has a strong presence within in all major UK retailers, taking the brand to £17m

turnover (over 30% growth year on year). With more ground-breaking products in the pipeline, this

is simply just the beginning.  

itsu [grocery] is now looking for a bright, ambitious and enthusiastic Senior Food Technologist for

the chilled category to join our Technical department. The successful candidate will report directly

into the Technical Controller, working closely with suppliers to help drive the company’s high

standard and maintain compliance with our quality management system.

the role

Overarching

 Responsible for the quality, safety, legality and authenticity of itsu [grocery] products and

supplier performance.

 Responsible driving the awareness of a food safety culture and ensuring it is always

considered during decision making.

 Support the technical team in maintaining and improving the Food safety & quality

management system and ensure AA Grade certification against the BRC Agents & Brokers

standard is maintained.

Suppliers

 Conduct food safety audits for itsu [grocery]’s manufacturing sites, approve and onboard

new suppliers and drive an improvement in supplier performance through supplier reviews

and KPIs.

 Maintaining the supplier approval databases, ensuring certificates and questionnaires are

completed and up to date at all times with food safety and ethical risks effectively managed.

Products

 Conduct risk assessment on the product range to determine the frequency of testing.

Support the Technical Executive with ongoing monitoring of product quality, safety and

authenticity through routine surveillance testing (covering nutritionals, claim validation,

micro, chemical and authenticity testing), shelf life evaluation and organoleptic testing.

Interpret results, action and rectify any non-conformances with the supplier as a result of

ongoing monitoring.

 Analyse and interpret trends in customer complaints and conduct investigations with

suppliers where necessary to identify the root cause and put relevant corrective actions in

place. Drive continuous improvement with suppliers to achieve a reduction in consumer

complaints.

Product Development

 Embedding the NPD launch process and covering all technical aspects ensuring any

technical issues with projects are foreseen and resolved prior to launch.

 Completing and maintaining product specifications across the itsu [grocery] portfolio

ensuring signed off products are safe, legal and all product quality attributes are captured.

 Reviewing and approving legal labelling for new and existing products.

 Attend production trials and first productions.