Tastes Good Does Good Candidate Process Food/Chef Entrepreneur Founder Programme

Tastes Good Does Good is a purpose-driven food group built around a simple belief: food should taste good and do good. The group describes itself as “the nation's first sustainable purpose driven hospitality group to put purpose before profits” and uses a purpose-driven model that dedicates 15% of revenue to fighting hunger and food inequality through ingredients, donations, food charity support, and new venture creation (Tastes Good Does Good).

This opportunity is not a standard job. It is a founder pathway for someone who wants to build, run, and eventually own the majority of a purpose-driven food business. You will be expected to lead commercially, care deeply about customers, learn fast, face your weaknesses honestly, and push us hard for the support you need.

If you want this opportunity, do not wait to be managed. You need to ask questions, request training, challenge unclear decisions, chase data, push for feedback, and take responsibility for the business as if it is already yours.

The opportunity

You are applying to become the founder-operator of one of our purpose-driven ventures. Our current and emerging ventures include Britain Loves Baking, Cakery Wonderland, Wonderland Events, A Wonderful Life Catering, udderly lush tastes good catering, athomedining, Sugar Daddy, and other food and experience brands developed through the group.

The aim is to build profitable food businesses that create great products, serve customers brilliantly, and generate revenue that supports the wider mission of helping create a world where no one goes without food. The group’s website describes its model as a 10-year business and social experiment to test a new way of doing business, with “nourishing people and the planet over profit and shareholders” at the heart of the approach (Tastes Good Does Good).

Successful candidates may become directors and founder-operators, with a staged path to majority ownership once performance, governance, training, and commercial milestones are met. The business will provide support, space, mentoring, training, supply-chain access, operational know-how, and customer opportunities, but you will be expected to drive the venture every day.

Before you apply: the honest skills audit

Before you submit anything, we want you to sit down and think honestly about the skills you do not yet have. We are less interested in a perfect CV than in your ability to understand your gaps, ask for help early, and turn those gaps into a training plan.

What we want you to do

·       List your strongest skills: food, baking, pastry, events, customers, sales, leadership, social media, costing, operations, or anything else that makes you useful to the business.

·       List your weakest skills: be direct about what you cannot yet do, what you avoid, what makes you nervous, and what you need to learn before you can run a business properly.

·       Write a training plan: explain what you need to learn in the first 30, 60, 90, and 180 days, and how you will prove you have improved.

·       Tell us how you will push us: describe what support you will need from us and how you will hold us accountable if you are not getting it.

·       Decide whether you really want founder life: this is not a 9-to-5 role. It will involve early mornings, late nights, weekends, events, customers, mistakes, pressure, learning, and responsibility.

What we will look for

We are not looking for someone who pretends to know everything. We are looking for someone who can say, “I am not good enough at this yet, here is how I will fix it, and here is the help I need from you.”

Candidate promise and company promise

What you must bring

·       Food passion: you care about food, flavour, customers, and creating products or experiences people remember.

·       Purpose: you care about people who are hungry, excluded, struggling, or locked out of opportunity.

·       Drive: you want to own and grow a business, not just work in one.

·       Honesty: you are direct about your strengths, gaps, mistakes, and needs.

·       Resilience: you can take feedback, recover from setbacks, and keep moving.

·       Commercial instinct: you understand that purpose only works if the business is viable, profitable, and well run.

·       Coachability: you can learn from people with more experience without losing your own voice.

·       Leadership: you can work with different people, bring energy, and make others better.

What we must bring

·       Clarity: we will explain the process, the expectations, the ownership pathway, and the assessment criteria.

·       Feedback: we will give useful feedback at each stage where practical.

·       Support: we will provide access to mentoring, training, space, supply-chain support, and operational know-how.

·       Fairness: we will judge candidates against the same criteria and make reasonable adjustments where needed.

·       Respect: we will not expect unpaid trial work. Any extended work stage will be paid.

·       Transparency: we will be honest about the risks, the commitment, the finances, the training needed, and the fact that building a business is hard.

Overview of the process

Stage-by-stage process with KPIs
Click Here

Stage 1: Reality check, skills audit, and training plan

This is the first stage because founder success depends on self-awareness. We want to know what you can do, but we also want to know what you cannot do yet.

Candidate must submit

·       A one-page skills audit.

·       A first training plan covering the first 30, 60, 90, and 180 days.

·       A short paragraph explaining how you will push us for support, feedback, training, and decisions.

·       A short paragraph explaining the part of founder life that worries you most.

Candidate KPIs

What TGDG must provide

·       Clear description of the opportunity, the risks, and the expected commitment.

·       A template for the skills audit and training plan.

·       Early clarity on which skills can be trained and which are essential from the start.

Stage 2: Initial application

Candidates submit a short written application. This should be honest, personal, and direct.

Candidate must submit

In no more than 250 words:

·       Your food journey and baking or cooking passion.

·       How this opportunity could change your life.

·       The social purpose you would want the business to serve.

·       How that purpose helps create a world where no one goes hungry.

Candidate KPIs

Decision point

Candidates progress if their application shows genuine food passion, purpose alignment, and enough clarity to justify deeper assessment.

Stage 3: CV, food portfolio, and food knowledge tasks

This stage tests whether the candidate has enough food skill and basic commercial thinking to enter the process seriously.

Candidate must submit

·       CV or work history.

·       Photos and short descriptions of five dishes, bakes, menus, or food products that show creativity and technical ability.

·       One recipe or product costed to a single-portion level.

·       A sample afternoon tea menu with pricing logic.

·       Any food hygiene, allergy, kitchen, chef, pastry, bakery, events, hospitality, or management training already completed.

Candidate KPIs

Decision point

Candidates progress if they show credible food ability, enough commercial awareness to be coached, and the discipline to complete tasks properly.

Stage 4: First interview

The interview is a two-way founder conversation. We will ask questions, and we expect you to ask difficult questions too.

Candidate must prepare

·       Five questions you need answered before you could take this seriously.

·       Three things you would want to change or improve in the venture.

·       One example of a time you handled pressure, conflict, failure, or a difficult customer.

·       One example of a time you had to learn something quickly.

Candidate KPIs

What TGDG must provide

·       Honest explanation of the venture, its current position, and its risks.

·       Time for the candidate to ask questions.

·       Clear next steps and timing.

Stage 5: A day at work

This is a practical day of baking, cooking, observing, talking, and working with the team. It is not just a skills test. It is a chance to see how you behave in a real environment.

Candidate must do

·       Take part in practical food preparation  tasks.

·       Show basic hygiene and allergen awareness.

·       Ask questions about operations, customers, supply chain, production, events, and revenue.

·       Spend time with the team and show how you communicate.

·       Reflect at the end of the day on what you learned and what you still need to learn.

Candidate KPIs

What TGDG must provide

·       Clear tasks and safe supervision.

·       Explanation of food safety rules and operational expectations.

·       A feedback conversation after the day where practical.

Stage 6: Paid founder trial week

The paid founder trial week is designed to show whether you can start behaving like the founder-operator of the business. You will not be expected to know everything, but you will be expected to take ownership.

Candidate will work on

·       Creating or improving a product.

·       Helping develop an ecommerce or online sales idea.

·       Creating social media or customer-facing content.

·       Pitching for new business or responding to a commercial opportunity.

·       Costing an event, product, or menu.

·       Supporting live events or daily operations.

·       Managing priorities, including asking us for decisions, information, and support.

·       Updating the training plan based on what you discover during the week.

Candidate KPIs

What TGDG must provide

·       Paid work for the trial week.

·       Access to relevant business information needed for the tasks.

·       A clear point of contact.

·       Feedback at the end of the week.

·       Enough context for the candidate to prepare a serious 100-day plan.

Stage 7: 100-day plan presentation

At the end of the paid trial week, candidates present a 100-day plan. This is the key founder test.

Candidate must present

·       What the business should focus on in the first 100 days.

·       Revenue targets and the actions needed to reach them.

·       Customer segments, sales channels, and marketing priorities.

·       Product, menu, or experience priorities.

·       Food safety, training, and operations priorities.

·       Team, suppliers, and support needed.

·       Risks and how they will manage them.

·       Purpose and impact goals.

·       Updated personal training plan.

·       What they expect from TGDG, and how they will push for it.

Candidate KPIs

Suggested 100-day plan measures

Stage 8: Final appointment and founder onboarding

If selected, the candidate enters a structured founder onboarding process. Appointment is subject to checks, eligibility, agreed terms, and final documentation.

Candidate must complete

·       Right-to-work evidence for the UK.

·       Director eligibility confirmation.

·       Any required food hygiene or allergen training.

·       Personal licence pathway if the role requires alcohol service and the candidate is eligible.

·       Driving licence confirmation where driving is an essential operational requirement for the specific venture.

·       Agreement to governance, reporting, conduct, food safety, and brand standards.

·       Final training plan and first 30-day action plan.

email to apply