Fresh Produce Quality and Inventory Control

Fresh Produce Quality & Inventory Control Job Description

DiCarlo Food Service

• Inspect inbound fresh produce shipments for quality, condition, temperature, count, size, color, maturity, firmness, defects, decay, damage, and conformity with purchase specifications.
• Accept, place on hold, or recommend rejection of product based on established quality standards and promptly communicate findings to Purchasing and Operations.
• Perform daily warehouse and cooler inspections to monitor product condition, proper rotation, storage temperature, sanitation, and remaining shelf life.
• Conduct outbound quality checks and random shipping audits to verify that produce selected for customers meets company and customer requirements.
• Document inspection results accurately, including temperatures, defects, disposition decisions, corrective actions, and photographs when appropriate.
• Identify recurring quality issues and collaborate with suppliers, growers, Purchasing, and warehouse teams to resolve problems and improve product consistency.
• Support inventory rotation and disposition decisions by recommending priority use, rework, salvage, donation, or disposal when appropriate.
• Maintain accurate fresh produce inventory by performing routine physical inventories.
• Investigate inventory discrepancies, shorts, overages, substitutions, mis-picks, and location errors; document root causes and coordinate corrections with warehouse leadership.
• Monitor aging inventory, shelf life, product movement, and stock levels; communicate slow-moving, excess, short-dated, or at-risk items to Purchasing, Sales, and Operations.
• Ensure produce is properly received, labeled, slotted, rotated, and issued using first-in, first-out and first-expired, first-out practices.
• Review daily receiving, transfer, picking, shipping, adjustment, and return transactions to confirm inventory movements are recorded accurately in the warehouse management system.
• Track and report produce shrink, spoilage, damage, aging, inventory variances, and other key performance measures; recommend corrective actions to reduce product loss.
• Follow all company food safety, sanitation, Good Manufacturing Practices, workplace safety, and cold-chain procedures; assist with product recalls and regulatory or third-party inspections as needed.

• Knowledge of fresh produce varieties, seasonality, common defects, quality grades, ripening, handling, and storage requirements.
• Strong attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to make timely product disposition decisions.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to work professionally with suppliers, customers, and internal departments.
• Ability to work in refrigerated warehouse environments, stand and walk for extended periods, bend and reach, and safely lift and handle produce cases in accordance with company requirements.
• Basic proficiency with Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel; experience entering inspection results into a quality or warehouse system is preferred.
• Experience with produce inventory control, cycle counting, lot tracking, FIFO/FEFO rotation, and warehouse management or inventory systems is preferred.

Compensation details: 20-30 Hourly Wage

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Additional details

• Experience: None
• Entry level: None