Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
A new product developer’s responsibility is to help develop products through the process of ideating, testing, and repeating the process. They record variations and take a scientific approach, ensuring that important data is captured for replication. Combined with sensory evaluation, this helps developers use evidence to refine their process and create products with a higher chance of success.
Individuals in this role need to be able to strike a balance between creativity, science, and brand authenticity. This requires culinary expertise, an experimental mindset, and a problem-solving attitude.
An important aspect of working in this role is being able to follow a brief, whilst representing a brand. Collaboration is key, as a new product developer typically work alongside development chefs, technologists, and senior staff.
The nature of this role offers those in it a healthy work-life balance, with working hours usually being around 9 am to 5 pm on Weekdays.
Becoming a new product development chef requires a range of skills, some of which include:
The average salary of a new product developer will likely factor in experience, job placement and responsibilities. This can result in varied salaries across the industry; in the UK, the average falls between £35,000 and £60,000.
Employment type:
Employed
Working hours:
—
Potential Salary:
£35,000 – £65,000
Work/Life Balance
—
Head of Food & Development Chef
Laoise, from Ireland and currently living in London, is working in her dream job as Head of Food for a recipe food app, Plate Up. Laoise worked as a HR Manager for ten years, whilst all the time cooking frantically in the evenings and weekends, then she took the plunge to move to London and retrain at Leiths to follow her dream to work in food.
“Say yes to every opportunity – the more varied types of work experience in food you can do the better. You can learn something from every single person you work with – since I left Leiths my main learnings have been from the chefs I’ve been lucky enough to work with, you pick up so many skills, hacks and tips from them.”
A Recipe Tester evaluates and refines recipes for accuracy, taste, and consistency. They follow instructions, adjust ingredients or techniques, and provide feedback to improve the final dish. Attention to detail, a passion for food, and strong culinary skills are essential for success in this role.
A Menu Consultant/Food Consultant advises restaurants and food businesses on menu development, ingredient sourcing, and culinary trends. They optimise flavour, cost, and presentation to enhance customer appeal and profitability.
A recipe developer creates innovative recipes for restaurants and food companies, blending creativity and culinary knowledge to craft delicious and appealing dishes while collaborating with chefs and marketing teams.
