Produce Procurement Manager

Five Guys•Alexandria, VA

22d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Produce Manager is responsible for developing and maintaining produce specifications, evaluating supplier capabilities, and managing supplier relationships. This role leads North American potato negotiations, manages produce freight costs, and provides market condition updates. The Produce Manager also oversees product incidents, maintains supplier profiles in FoodLogiQ, manages inventory, and issues RFPs for key produce items. They provide budget projections, track actuals against budget for COGS analysis, and partner with the Logistics Manager on freight and overage costs. The position requires knowledge of food safety standards and regulations, and involves travel to growing regions, distributor locations, and store locations to ensure product quality and specifications are met. The Produce Manager also assists franchisees with produce-related questions and attends industry events to build relationships and identify new suppliers.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, business, supply chain, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
Five to seven years of category management or equivalent experience, including supplier management and pricing experience, preferred.
Foodservice or food manufacturing experience preferred.
Five or more years of experience sourcing and negotiating contracts for potatoes, including Idaho potatoes and other North American growing regions such as PEI and Washington, preferred.
Excellent verbal and written skills are necessary.
The ability to read, write and comprehend complex instructions and correspondence is necessary.
Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.
Good business math skills.
Pragmatic analyzing skills, organizational skills, problem-solving abilities and the ability to manage multiple ongoing projects.
Proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet, Outlook and other appropriate software within the organization.
Knowledge of common MS Office applications.

Responsibilities

Develops and maintains produce specifications.
Evaluates growing and distribution capabilities of current and prospective produce and potato suppliers.
Maintains and strengthens supplier relationships.
Leads North American potato negotiations for new crop cycles throughout the year.
Manages produce freight costs from growers to distribution.
Produces weekly updates on current and forecasted produce market conditions.
Conducts supplier site visits with Five Guys produce growers and distributors.
Communicates market conditions and pricing changes to the field through weekly Patty Press updates.
Oversees daily product incidents in FoodLogiQ and ensures closure within five days, including monitoring and reporting trends that may affect store-level produce quality.
Maintains accurate FoodLogiQ profiles for produce suppliers and packers, including contacts, locations, audits, and required documentation.
Manages Arrow Stream inventory for potato and produce items across Five Guys distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada.
Issues annual RFPs to identify potential suppliers for key produce items, including potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions.
Provides budget projections for key produce items and tracks actuals against budget to support leadership and Finance with COGS analysis.
Partners with the Logistics Manager to unbundle freight and overage costs.
Applies knowledge of food safety standards and regulations to support compliance.
Travels to produce and potato growing regions and distributor locations to periodically review production and verify Five Guys specifications.
Travels to Five Guys store locations to support produce quality concerns or questions.
Assists franchisees with produce quality questions and concerns.
Attends key produce industry events to maintain supplier relationships and identify potential new suppliers.
Builds and maintains professional relationships with growers, distributors, suppliers, franchisees, and internal stakeholders.