Bakery Ingredient Buyer / Food Ingredient Warehouse Operator

Position Overview

We are seeking a responsible, organized, and detail-oriented Bakery Ingredient Buyer / Food Ingredient Warehouse Operator to manage the purchasing, receiving, storage, inventory control, and distribution of bakery ingredients and food materials. The ideal candidate will have good knowledge of bakery and food ingredients, strong purchasing and supplier coordination skills, good inventory management abilities, and a strong understanding of food hygiene, quality control, proper storage practices, and workplace safety requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage daily purchasing and warehouse operations for bakery ingredients and food materials.
• Source and purchase bakery ingredients, food products, packaging materials, and other supplies according to production requirements.
• Purchase ingredients such as flour, sugar, yeast, butter, margarine, milk powder, cream, eggs, chocolate, cocoa powder, nuts, dried fruits, fillings, flavors, food additives, oils, and other bakery-related products.
• Identify suitable suppliers and compare product quality, pricing, availability, payment terms, delivery schedules, and overall value.
• Negotiate prices, quantities, delivery arrangements, payment terms, and other purchasing conditions with suppliers where required.
• Maintain good relationships with suppliers and follow up on quotations, purchase orders, deliveries, shortages, damaged goods, and replacement products.
• Monitor ingredient consumption, stock levels, production requirements, and purchasing schedules to ensure sufficient materials are available.
• Prepare purchase orders, supplier information, receiving documents, inventory records, and other purchasing documentation.
• Receive incoming ingredients and food products and check quantities, product names, specifications, packaging, batch numbers, expiry dates, and visible damage.
• Verify incoming deliveries against purchase orders, delivery orders, invoices, and supplier documents.
• Inspect food ingredients for quality, freshness, packaging condition, contamination, leakage, pests, unusual odors, or other potential quality issues.
• Ensure ingredients are stored correctly according to product requirements, including temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and appropriate storage conditions.
• Organize and maintain warehouse storage areas so that ingredients are clearly labeled, properly stacked, easily accessible, and protected from contamination or damage.
• Follow FIFO (First In, First Out) and FEFO (First Expired, First Out) principles where applicable to minimize product expiry and wastage.
• Monitor expiry dates, batch numbers, product conditions, and stock rotation on a regular basis.
• Conduct regular physical stock counts and reconcile inventory records with actual warehouse quantities.
• Investigate and report stock discrepancies, shortages, damaged goods, expired ingredients, and unusual inventory movements.
• Maintain accurate records of stock received, issued, transferred, returned, expired, damaged, and disposed of.
• Issue ingredients to bakery or production departments according to approved production requirements and stock procedures.
• Coordinate with bakers, production staff, purchasing personnel, suppliers, and management regarding ingredient requirements and stock availability.
• Monitor fast-moving, slow-moving, and critical ingredients and arrange timely replenishment to prevent production delays.
• Ensure proper handling of food ingredients during receiving, storage, picking, and distribution to maintain product quality and food safety.
• Maintain cleanliness, hygiene, pest-control standards, and good housekeeping within the food ingredient warehouse.
• Ensure food ingredients are stored separately and appropriately according to product type and contamination-control requirements.
• Monitor refrigerators, freezers, storage racks, pallets, weighing scales, and other warehouse equipment where applicable.
• Report damaged, defective, contaminated, expired, or temperature-sensitive products immediately to the relevant supervisor or management.
• Assist with supplier evaluation and product quality monitoring based on price, consistency, delivery performance, and ingredient quality.
• Support internal or external inspections, stock audits, food safety checks, and quality-control activities where required.
• Train or guide warehouse staff on proper food ingredient handling, storage procedures, stock rotation, hygiene, and workplace safety.
• Ensure compliance with company procedures, food hygiene requirements, warehouse policies, and workplace safety standards.
• Identify opportunities to reduce purchasing costs, minimize ingredient wastage, improve stock accuracy, optimize warehouse space, and improve purchasing and inventory efficiency.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Previous experience as a Bakery Ingredient Buyer, Food Ingredient Buyer, Purchasing Assistant, Food Warehouse Operator, Warehouse Assistant, Storekeeper, Inventory Controller, or similar role.
• Experience in bakery, food manufacturing, food distribution, catering, restaurant supply, or food ingredient warehousing would be an advantage.
• Good knowledge of common bakery and food ingredients, including flour, sugar, yeast, dairy products, butter, margarine, chocolate, cocoa, nuts, dried fruits, fillings, flavors, oils, and food additives.
• Good understanding of ingredient specifications, product quality, packaging, shelf life, expiry dates, and storage requirements.
• Experience in purchasing, supplier sourcing, price comparison, quotation evaluation, and purchase order management.
• Good negotiation, communication, supplier coordination, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong knowledge of warehouse operations, receiving, stock control, stock rotation, picking, issuing, and inventory management.
• Understanding of FIFO and FEFO inventory management principles.
• Strong attention to detail when checking product quantities, specifications, batch numbers, expiry dates, and delivery documents.
• Good organizational, planning, problem-solving, and time-management skills.
• Ability to maintain accurate purchasing, inventory, supplier, and warehouse records.
• Good computer skills and ability to use Microsoft Office, inventory systems, purchasing systems, or warehouse management software.
• Understanding of food hygiene, food safety, sanitation, contamination prevention, and proper food storage practices would be an advantage.
• Physically fit and comfortable standing for extended periods and handling food ingredient bags, boxes, containers, and warehouse materials.
• Ability to safely handle and move heavy ingredient bags and cartons using appropriate manual handling techniques or equipment.
• Reliable, responsible, hardworking, disciplined, and detail-oriented.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced food production and warehouse environment.
• Willing to work in chilled, refrigerated, or temperature-controlled storage areas when required.
• Relevant qualification or experience in purchasing, supply chain, logistics, warehouse management, food science, food technology, or a related field would be an advantage.
• Ability to work overtime, weekends, public holidays, or extended hours when required.
• Fluent English required; additional languages would be an advantage.