Food Production Apprentice
THE BOOK CAFE LIMITED
Belper (DE56 1AR)
Closes in 10 days (Monday 16 June 2025)
Posted on 2 June 2025
Contents
Summary
You will learn all aspects of food production, safety, and cleaning in our busy kitchens. You will be trained to prepare and serve breakfast and lunch. We bake our own cakes, scones, and flatbreads, and make fresh soups and other dishes daily. We proudly have 5-star Hygiene ratings in both cafes and expect high standards from the whole team.
- Wage
-
£11,778 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age
National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices
- Training course
- Production chef (level 2)
- Hours
-
Monday - Sunday, 5 days max.
Day shifts with occasional early evening extra prep.
Applicants must be available at weekends as we expect all staff to work at least a Saturday and/or a Sunday as these are our busiest days. Shifts are based on a rota.
30 hours a week
- Start date
-
Friday 1 August 2025
- Duration
-
1 year
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
- Prepping for breakfast & lunch service
- Making & baking cakes & scones
- Cooking breakfast & lunch dishes
- Ensuring food safety regulations are followed
- Using a pass-through dishwasher & pot washing
- Cleaning the kitchen & prep room to a high standard at the end of every shift with other kitchen team members
Where you'll work
The Bookcafe at the Orangery
Chapel Street
Belper
DE56 1AR
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
College or training organisation
DCG
Your training course
Production chef (level 2)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Prepare and cook pre-portioned fresh and frozen meat, fish, and poultry to business standards.
- Prepare and cook fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables to business standards.
- Prepare salad vegetables to business standards.
- Cook poached, simmered, steamed, boiled, braised, stewed, baked, grilled, and fried dishes.
- Regenerate dried and frozen ingredients and dishes.
- Undertake stock control, storage, and rotation.
- Communicate professionally with colleagues, line managers, stakeholders, and customers.
- Work as part of a team to support service delivery.
- Follow specifications to produce, portion, and present food.
- Manage own time to ensure allocated tasks are completed.
- Use techniques for maintaining good mental health and wellbeing to support self and others, including asking for and giving help with daily tasks.
- Use feedback to improve own performance.
- Prepare and close down an area for service.
- Use problem solving techniques to resolve routine and non-routine issues within scope of own role.
- Maintain prep and par levels according to business need.
- Clean and maintain manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, and technology.
- Follow standard operating procedures to select and safely use appropriate knives and boards for the task, for example red handled knife and red board for raw meat.
- Monitor and record food temperatures and manage allergens during preparation, cooking, holding, and serving.
- Apply hygiene management techniques to maintain a safe clean work environment, for example COSHH, personal hygiene, and uniform.
- Reduce the waste of resources, acting to measure and reduce plate waste, exercise portion control, and maximise yield.
- Comply with health and safety legislation, regulations, guidelines and procedures, including stress management.
- Follow equity, diversity, and inclusion legislation and organisational policies.
- Deliver to key performance indicators to support the production, performance, and budget within own area of responsibility.
- Use manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, machinery, and technology.
- Prepare and cook pre-portioned fresh and frozen meat, fish, and poultry to business standards.
- Prepare and cook fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables to business standards.
- Prepare salad vegetables to business standards.
- Cook poached, simmered, steamed, boiled, braised, stewed, baked, grilled, and fried dishes.
- Regenerate dried and frozen ingredients and dishes.
- Undertake stock control, storage, and rotation.
- Communicate professionally with colleagues, line managers, stakeholders, and customers.
- Work as part of a team to support service delivery.
- Follow specifications to produce, portion, and present food.
- Manage own time to ensure allocated tasks are completed.
- Use techniques for maintaining good mental health and wellbeing to support self and others, including asking for and giving help with daily tasks.
- Use feedback to improve own performance.
- Prepare and close down an area for service.
- Use problem solving techniques to resolve routine and non-routine issues within scope of own role.
- Maintain prep and par levels according to business need.
- Clean and maintain manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, and technology.
- Follow standard operating procedures to select and safely use appropriate knives and boards for the task, for example red handled knife and red board for raw meat.
- Monitor and record food temperatures and manage allergens during preparation, cooking, holding, and serving.
- Apply hygiene management techniques to maintain a safe clean work environment, for example COSHH, personal hygiene, and uniform.
- Reduce the waste of resources, acting to measure and reduce plate waste, exercise portion control, and maximise yield.
- Comply with health and safety legislation, regulations, guidelines and procedures, including stress management.
- Follow equity, diversity, and inclusion legislation and organisational policies.
- Deliver to key performance indicators to support the production, performance, and budget within own area of responsibility.
- Use manual and electrical food-preparation and cooking tools, equipment, machinery, and technology.
Your training plan
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 2/E or above)
- Mathematics (grade 2/E or above)
Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Organisation skills
- Customer care skills
- Team working
- Initiative
- Patience
Other requirements
As an order at the counter café, we can experience very busy periods. You’ll need to keep calm & organised in a very busy environment. There is a lot of cleaning, particularly at the end of the day.
About this company
Bookcafe promises a friendly, relaxing & inspiring setting whether you visit alone or with a group of friends & family. Great coffee, drinks & food are our passion; whatever time of day you visit you'll find freshly made & quite often locally sourced dishes on our menus. We hold a 5 Star food Hygiene rating and are fully licensed. Both of our beautiful venues are available for Private hire for parties & other special occasions, Belper during the daytime & Derby day & evening.
After this apprenticeship
We love to promote from within when we find the right person.
Our Derby Kitchen Manager started as our cleaner 6 years ago and our Manager in Belper started as a part time member of the FOH team in Derby. We have 2 cafes.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
DCG
Niall Nanson
niall.nanson@derby-college.ac.uk
01332387420
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000323541.
Apply now
Closes in 10 days (Monday 16 June 2025)
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After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.