Company description

Hatari.Travel and Wondergarden.africa are two closely linked, owner‑run initiatives in northern Tanzania.

Hatari.Travel operates Hatari Lodge inside Arusha National Park and Shu’mata Camp in the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area. Both properties are small, characterful bush lodges known for personal hosting, strong ties to local communities and a clear focus on nature‑based, low‑impact travel. They act as training grounds for future hospitality leaders who prefer human‑scale lodges over corporate hotel chains.

Wondergarden.africa, based in Moshi and moving to a village near a national park, is a food and conservation startup. It works through an African Peoples Culinary Centre, a heritage foods manufacture and the Soko Safi Deli & Bakery to bring back native grains, fruits and food traditions in modern, nutritious products already found in Moshi, Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

Together, Hatari and Wondergarden explore “culinary conservation”: using gastronomy, storytelling and everyday hospitality to support conservation, local economies, health and culture across two landscapes.

Job description

About Wondergarden
Wondergarden is a food and conservation startup working to link landscapes, communities, food heritage and livelihoods. We operate through three connected components:

African Peoples Culinary Centre – learning, storytelling and practice around African food cultures
Heritage Foods Manufacture – native and heritage foods turned into high‑quality, nutritious products
Soko Safi Deli & Bakery – everyday, health‑focused, heritage‑driven foods
We are based in Moshi, with staff housing provided, and are moving to a village near a national park. Our products are already in Moshi, Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar (supermarkets, airports, selected outlets).

Role summary – what this job really is
This is an operations and procurement role for someone who understands food production, but prefers planning, stock, suppliers and numbers to standing on the line and cooking.

You will not be a hotel‑style Executive Chef. Instead, you will be the person who makes sure that:

Ingredients and packaging are in the right place, at the right time, at the right cost
Production schedules, stock, yields and dispatch are organised and tracked
Simple systems and records keep Wondergarden’s manufacture running smoothly
We are a startup and do not offer big‑city 5‑star Executive Chef salaries. We offer a hands‑on opportunity to build a working heritage food manufacture with real impact.

Key responsibilities
1. Procurement, stock & seasonality

Plan and coordinate purchasing of ingredients, packaging and consumables
Maintain accurate stock levels (fridges, freezers, dry stores, packaging)
Plan around harvest seasons of native and heritage crops to avoid stock‑outs and waste
Coordinate and confirm orders with farmers, communities and suppliers (quantities, delivery dates, prices, payment terms)
Track costs from farm/field to finished product
2. Production planning & scheduling

Prepare clear weekly production schedules (what, when, how much) for all product lines
Work with team leads to ensure enough staff for prep, processing, baking, packing and labelling
Adjust plans when ingredients are late, short or variable in quality
Use your kitchen/production know‑how to keep yields, quality and timing on target
3. Supplier & farmer relations

Build practical relationships with farmers, markets, communities and wholesalers
Communicate simple standards for ripeness, cleanliness, sorting, storage and timing
Support basic capacity building with suppliers to improve consistency
4. Costing, budgeting & finance tracking

Maintain up‑to‑date ingredient and packaging price lists
Keep product costings current (recipe/batch cost, cost per unit, yield, margin)
Track weekly and monthly spend on ingredients, packaging, transport and small operational items
Work with management to stay within budgets and flag cost risks early (price changes, high wastage, inefficient products)
5. Orders, dispatch & distribution

Coordinate weekly orders for retail, wholesale and events
Organise dispatch to Moshi, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar (packing lists, quantities, transport contacts)
Ensure clients receive fresh, consistent product and that returns/issues are logged and followed up
6. Assets, facilities & basic standards

Oversee storage conditions (temperature, cleanliness, organisation)
Keep simple records of tools, equipment and textiles, and communicate maintenance needs in time
Help implement basic food safety and regulatory requirements (labelling, TBS, logs, simple HACCP thinking)
7. Systems, documentation & digital tools

Design and maintain simple, usable systems (spreadsheets, checklists, SOPs) for procurement, stock, production, wastage and dispatch
Ensure daily and weekly records (production sheets, stock movements, wastage, purchases) are complete and filed
Use basic Excel/Google Sheets and shared docs to keep information clear and accessible
8. Team coordination & basic training

Support HR/management with staff schedules based on production needs and peak times
Help train and mentor junior staff in production discipline: following recipes, measuring correctly, reducing waste, respecting quality
Keep communication flowing between production, store and field teams

What this role is not
To avoid misunderstanding:

Not a hotel/resort Executive Chef role running à la carte or buffet service
You will not spend most of your time cooking or designing plated menus
The focus is operations, procurement, stock, costing and systems, informed by your food production experience

Profile – who we are looking for
You are likely a good fit if you:

Have 4–8+ years in food production environments such as:Bakery / deli / commissary kitchen / small food manufacture / hotel production kitchen
Have already worked with:Ordering & supplier contact
Stock control & inventory
Basic costing & yield
Production planning / rotas
Prefer organising, planning and numbers to being on the pass
Are comfortable with basic spreadsheets (Excel / Google Sheets) and written records
Speak and write Swahili and English
Are ready to live in Moshi and later a village near a national park
Care about food, health, culture and conservation and want your daily work to support that

We are especially interested in people who have been:Sous Chef, Production Chef, Bakery/Deli Manager, or Small‑scale Production Supervisor,
and now want to focus more on operations & procurement than on service cooking.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, varies DOE, $10,000.00 - $12,000.00

Application instructions

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Deadline

February 28, 2026