Company description

The Spare Food Co. is a culinary innovation company on a mission to fix the broken food system by finding more ways to use more of what's already available. We transform overlooked and surplus ingredients into delicious, healthier and more sustainable versions of people’s favorite foods and drinks.

Our hero protein portfolio focuses on Spare™ Beef and Spare Burger® – chef-crafted, blended beef and surplus vegetable solutions that deliver on flavor and improved nutrition while significantly reducing environmental impact. Our partners are leading foodservice, hospitality, and restaurant operators committed to culinary excellence and measurable climate impact through better-for-people-and-planet food options. It is not an alternative to beef. It is simply, Better Beef.

Job description

The Regional Culinary Sales Director is a mission-driven, hands-on sales leader responsible for driving the adoption and market penetration of The Spare Food Co.'s B2B protein portfolio within the Northeast region.

This role requires a unique blend of high-level sales strategy, deep culinary expertise, and a passion for helping create a more sustainable food system. You will forge relationships with key culinary, procurement, and sustainability stakeholders in major foodservice organizations (e.g., contract feeders, corporate dining, universities, large restaurant groups) to integrate Spare™ Beef and Spare Burger® into their menus and supply chains.

The ideal candidate for this role is a Culinary-Driven Business Developer who is equally comfortable in a commercial kitchen and a conference room. They are a persuasive communicator, an innovative problem-solver, and a passionate advocate for a better food system.

Key Responsibilities

Sales Strategy & Execution

• Drive Growth: Size and evaluate strategic opportunities to develop and execute a comprehensive regional sales plan that leverages our early successes to achieve ambitious revenue and volume targets.
• New Business Development: Identify, prospect, and close new business opportunities with major foodservice accounts, focusing on organizations with significant culinary operations and sustainability goals.
• Full Cycle Management: Manage the entire sales cycle, from initial culinary presentation to contract negotiation and post-launch support.

Culinary & Product Expertise

• Center-of-Plate Leadership: Act as the primary culinary expert, leading product demonstrations, chef training, and menu ideation sessions with client culinary teams.
• Menu Integration: Deeply understand client menu needs and recommend innovative, profitable applications for Spare™ Beef (bulk applications like meatballs, sauces, tacos) and Spare Burger® (grill stations, grab-and-go).
• Feedback Loop: Gather and relay critical field intelligence and culinary feedback to the R&D and Marketing teams to ensure we are constantly improving.

Client Relationship Management

• Strategic Partnerships: Build and maintain strong, high-trust relationships with key decision-makers across culinary, purchasing, and sustainability functions.
• Value Proposition: Clearly articulate The Spare Food Co.'s value proposition: flavor/quality, labor/cost savings, and measurable climate impact.
• Impact Tracking: Partner with clients to develop and track joint key performance indicators (KPIs) related to food waste and GHG emissions reduction.

Market Development

• Brand Representation: Represent The Spare Food Co. at regional industry events, trade shows, and culinary forums.
• Reporting: Provide accurate sales forecasts and regularly report on sales performance, market trends, and competitive activity.

Core Competencies

1. Must speak the language of a chef. You possess a strong professional culinary background (e.g. Sous Chef or Chef) with proven ability to lead effective product demonstrations and menu development. Success: Client culinary teams immediately respect and trust your expertise and recommendations.
2. Proven closer. You have a demonstrated ability to close large, complex B2B foodservice deals. You understand long sales cycles, procurement processes, and navigating organizational hierarchies. Success: Consistently meets or exceeds annual sales quotas.
3. Passion for impact. You have a deep passion for food waste reduction. You can compellingly link the client's business goals (P&L, labor) to our mission and climate impact data. Success: Uses LCA data to turn a product sale into a long-term sustainability partnership.
4. Network builder. You have a proven ability to build trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders (VP of Purchasing, Executive Chefs, Sustainability Officers). Success: Has an established network within the regional foodservice industry and can navigate internal political landscapes.
5. Operational mindset. You understand how product integration impacts a client's food cost, labor model, and operational efficiency. Success: Can calculate and articulate the total economic and environmental value of a transition, not simply the per-case price.

Qualifications

• Experience: 7+ years of contract foodservice sales experience, with at least 3 years directly selling value-added ingredients, proteins, or innovative food products into major foodservice/C&U, B&I, healthcare, and hospitality accounts and working with national and regional distributors and GPOs.
• Culinary Background: Prior experience as a professional sous chef or chef, or in a highly technical culinary sales role is a distinct advantage.
• Education: Degree in Business, Culinary Arts, or a related field preferred.
• Travel: Ability to travel extensively (up to 50-75%) within the assigned region for in-person meetings, demos, and trade shows.
• Technical Skills: Proficient with CRM software, MS Office/Google Suite, and financial modeling for business proposals.
• Location: Given the regional focus of the role, applicants must reside close to a major metropolitan area in the Northeastern US (NY, NJ, PA, MA preferred)

The Spare Food Co. is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. To achieve our mission of inspiring people to eat more sustainably and waste less food, we benefit from a range of perspectives, which comes from diversity of all types, at all levels of the organization. Facilitating diversity and inclusion is the smart thing for our business. We strongly encourage women, veterans, people with all abilities, people of color, and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, more than $100,000

Location

job can be done remotely

Application instructions

Deadline

January 31, 2026