Highlights
Our Story: Leprino's history dates back to the 1950s, when Jim Leprino first started making small batches of mozzarella for local markets and eateries in the Little Italy neighborhood of Denver. Within our Corporate Cheese Business Unit located in Denver - Leprino is seeking a R&D Test Kitchen Cook II, to move our organization to even larger levels of cheese and dairy ingredient growth!
Numbers & Facts
| Location | Denver, CO |
| Industry | Food and Beverage Production |
| Salary | $26.72–$30.73 Per Hour |
| Company Size | 2,500 to 4,999 employees |
| Year Founded | 1950 |
| Website | http://www.leprinofoods.com/careers/ |
Description
Within our Corporate Cheese Business Unit located in Denver - Leprino is seeking a R&D Test Kitchen Cook II, to move our organization to even larger levels of cheese and dairy ingredient growth! We take pride in our vision to be "worlds best", it is why we work harder, invest more, and continually innovate.
At Leprino, starting compensation for this role typically ranges between $26.72 and $30.73. This position has an annual target bonus of 3.5%.
What Youll Do:
- Prepare, organize, and package cheese samples for product evaluations, customer submissions, and development projects.
- Coordinate product evaluations by documenting results, organizing feedback, and creating clear reports for internal teams.
- Maintain an organized test kitchen, warehouse workspace, coolers, and freezers through daily and weekly cleaning activities. Your work helps create a safe and efficient environment!
- Monitor kitchen and selected pilot plant equipment, troubleshoot basic performance issues, and coordinate solutions when needed.
- Build and maintain inventory of ingredients, packaging materials, and kitchen supplies to support daily operations.
- Access internal databases to gather product information, inventory details, chemistry data, microbiology results, and grading attributes.
- Support plant product trials by preparing materials, organizing samples, and assisting with evaluation activities.
- Help prepare and present products during customer dinners, demonstrations, and industry trade shows. Your contributions help showcase Leprinos products with confidence!
- Develop knowledge of dairy ingredients, food preparation techniques, and product applications to support ongoing product development and evaluation.
- Contribute ideas that improve organization, workflows, and product evaluation processes while supporting continuous improvement efforts.
You Have At Least (Required Qualifications):
- A Bachelors degree in Food Science or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
- A minimum of one year of experience in the food industry with exposure to food science, food safety, product development, or quality.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.
- Experience preparing, evaluating, or handling food products in a laboratory, test kitchen, research, or manufacturing environment.
- The ability to safely operate and troubleshoot commercial kitchen equipment, such as ovens, mixers, shredders, or similar equipment.
- The ability to travel occasionally to support plant trials, customer events, or trade shows.
We Hope You Also Have (Preferred Qualifications):
- Experience using SAP or another enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
- A Masters degree in Food Science or a related field.
- Experience working with dairy ingredients, dairy proteins, dairy carbohydrates, or cheese manufacturing.
- Experience supporting customer product demonstrations, food presentations, trade shows, or technical product evaluations.
At Leprino, we believe in equal employment opportunity and make employment decisions based on each individual's unique talents, experience, skills, and knowledge; we do not discriminate on the basis of any personal characteristics. We know we are better together and are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive culture in which all employees can thrive.
Offering You In Return:
A chance to be part of a global team of individuals passionate about producing and delivering high-quality products that help feed and nourish families around the world. Leprino could not be where it is today without our incredible employees. That is why we share in our success together by rewarding you for your hard work. Hiring great people who are in it for the long run is our goal. Through competitive salaries and bonuses, life, medical/dental/vision coverage, voluntary benefits, employee assistance programs, wellness incentives, tuition assistance, vacation, ten paid holidays, sick time, paid parental leave, annual merit increases, as well as the LFC Profit-Sharing & 401(k) plan. Your impact will be noticed and rewarded, as you seek to further our company, our customers, and one another.
Our Story:
Leprino's history dates back to the 1950s, when Jim Leprino first started making small batches of mozzarella for local markets and eateries in the Little Italy neighborhood of Denver. We've grown a bit since then. Today, Leprino is the world's largest manufacturer of mozzarella and lactose, and a leading producer of whey protein. Still owned by the Leprino family, our sights are set to be the "World's Best Dairy Food and Ingredient Company." From a small corner grocery store we have grown to over 5,500 employees throughout the globe. Will you join us on our journey?
About Company
Overview We’re Leprino Foods Company – the leading producer of mozzarella cheese and related whey & lactose products in the USA. Our heritage of entrepreneurial growth & innovation, exceptional customer service, and top-quality products continue to define our business success and company culture every day. Our customers include leading pizza companies, consumer food manufacturers, and food distributors. Given our industry leading technology (we hold more patents on mozzarella cheese-making technology than any other producer), and quest for future growth, we’re expanding our international capabilities as well. Our Singapore hub and joint venture with Glanbia Cheese, UK positions us in key markets across the world.
From our headquarters in Denver to our production plants located across the country, our growth continues to provide exciting career opportunities. It’s our vision to become the world’s best dairy foods ingredients producer, and we’re looking for great people to help us get there. If you have a strong work ethic, a focus on providing excellent service to external and internal customers, an innovative spirit that’s not satisfied with status quo, and a passion for producing quality products and services, we’d be excited to have you join our organization.
Culture
Our unwavering commitment to product quality and unparalleled customer service encompasses simple principles that guide the efforts of every member of the Leprino Foods' team.
Quality
Service
Innovation
People
Perpetuating a fulfilling, challenging and safe work environment that encourages continuous improvement, provides equal opportunity, offers economic satisfaction through the recognition and rewarding of achievement, and ensures we maintain a healthy respect for our competitors, customers, suppliers and fellow employees in a clean and safe work environment.
Ethics
Conducting our affairs and nurturing our relationships with customers, suppliers, co-workers, mutual interest groups and others in a forthright and ethical manner.
Citizenship
Recognizing our responsibilities toward, and encouraging involvement in, our industry and local communities while respecting individual freedom of choice and maintaining the highest standards of environmental and regulatory compliance.
Benefits Click to learn more
Our Story Behind the superior quality and performance of our cheese lies the legacy of a man with a vision - to make the finest mozzarella cheese available anywhere.
Mike Leprino, Sr. arrived in America in 1914 with little more than fierce determination and a tough set of principles. In 1950 with the help of his family, Mike Leprino began making small batches of ricotta and mozzarella cheese for delivery to local grocery stores. An uncompromising commitment to product quality and customer service fueled demand for Leprino cheese.
Today the company he founded is the world's largest producer of mozzarella cheese and remains singularly focused upon making the finest cheese and whey products.
Results Through People
Environment
Our employees perform their best and feel considerable pride because they are active contributors to the continued success of the largest mozzarella maker in the world - and especially to the continued success of our customers. Employee teams propose and implement ideas to improve our products, service and technology, and track their success. In fact, our employees frequently surpass their own records when it comes to safety standards and innovative processes.
Culture
The culture of Leprino Foods Company is one of hard work, striving for excellence, high expectations and pride. To be successful requires high energy and passion, with a desire to take on challenges and do what it takes to keep Leprino Foods at the top of its industry. The hard work encountered here proves to be worthwhile when considering that we work for a market leader with great financial security and long-term stability. We are extremely committed to quality and to customer service.
At Leprino Foods, we believe:
Employees of Leprino Foods Company will agree that most positions and departments offer a high level of growth to the employees. This comes from both promotional advancement and personal growth opportunities. In addition, we offer an extensive list of training opportunities to all levels of employees. This can range from PC training and operator training all the way to leadership training and ways to further develop the competencies possessed by successful leaders.
Mission and Philosophies
Our mission and philosophy at Leprino Foods is to establish, through our actions, an unparalleled standard of excellence in people, products, and service while increasing our market share and perpetuating a healthy company that appropriately rewards all our efforts and investments. We believe that the health and longevity of our company can best be achieved through an uncompromising commitment by all of us to Leprino Quality as a way of life. Leprino Quality is exemplified by an attitude of continuous improvement in each of the following areas:
As an employee of Leprino Foods, you will have a chance to make a difference by joining one of the many Leprino Employee Involvement Teams and Task Forces.
We all benefit from these teams by having employees bring better problem solving, new ideas, and efficiencies to the Company. Team members benefit personally as well. Through involvement in one or more of these teams, members enhance their knowledge of Leprino’s operations and get the opportunity to work with people outside their normal contacts, doing tasks outside their normal scope of work. Team members also learn basic tools to help identify and work through problems – tools that will help them every day in their job and their personal life.
Community Involvement
Each of our locations has employees active in the communities they work and reside in. Leprino Foods is involved either by sponsorship, participating in, or donating to many worthwhile events.
College Recruiting Click to learn more
Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
From our headquarters in Denver to our production plants located across the country, our growth continues to provide exciting career opportunities. It’s our vision to become the world’s best dairy foods ingredients producer, and we’re looking for great people to help us get there. If you have a strong work ethic, a focus on providing excellent service to external and internal customers, an innovative spirit that’s not satisfied with status quo, and a passion for producing quality products and services, we’d be excited to have you join our organization.
Culture
Our unwavering commitment to product quality and unparalleled customer service encompasses simple principles that guide the efforts of every member of the Leprino Foods' team.
Quality
Service
Innovation
People
Perpetuating a fulfilling, challenging and safe work environment that encourages continuous improvement, provides equal opportunity, offers economic satisfaction through the recognition and rewarding of achievement, and ensures we maintain a healthy respect for our competitors, customers, suppliers and fellow employees in a clean and safe work environment.
Ethics
Conducting our affairs and nurturing our relationships with customers, suppliers, co-workers, mutual interest groups and others in a forthright and ethical manner.
Citizenship
Recognizing our responsibilities toward, and encouraging involvement in, our industry and local communities while respecting individual freedom of choice and maintaining the highest standards of environmental and regulatory compliance.
Benefits Click to learn more
Our Story Behind the superior quality and performance of our cheese lies the legacy of a man with a vision - to make the finest mozzarella cheese available anywhere.
Mike Leprino, Sr. arrived in America in 1914 with little more than fierce determination and a tough set of principles. In 1950 with the help of his family, Mike Leprino began making small batches of ricotta and mozzarella cheese for delivery to local grocery stores. An uncompromising commitment to product quality and customer service fueled demand for Leprino cheese.
Today the company he founded is the world's largest producer of mozzarella cheese and remains singularly focused upon making the finest cheese and whey products.
Results Through People
Environment
Our employees perform their best and feel considerable pride because they are active contributors to the continued success of the largest mozzarella maker in the world - and especially to the continued success of our customers. Employee teams propose and implement ideas to improve our products, service and technology, and track their success. In fact, our employees frequently surpass their own records when it comes to safety standards and innovative processes.
Culture
The culture of Leprino Foods Company is one of hard work, striving for excellence, high expectations and pride. To be successful requires high energy and passion, with a desire to take on challenges and do what it takes to keep Leprino Foods at the top of its industry. The hard work encountered here proves to be worthwhile when considering that we work for a market leader with great financial security and long-term stability. We are extremely committed to quality and to customer service.
At Leprino Foods, we believe:
- Exceptional customer service is the attitude of caring among all our employees that motivates them to go beyond traditional boundaries in order to facilitate the realization of our Vision.
- Exceptional customer service involves serving others as each of us would like to be served.
- Exceptional customer service must be pro-active, not reactive. It means anticipating a customer’s needs.
- Exceptional customer service is not limited to external customers, it must also be extended to our internal customers, to fellow employees, to our suppliers, and to all other business contacts.
- Exceptional customer service takes everyone’s efforts. One employee with a lack of effort can create poor customer service.
- Exceptional customer service is fundamental to achieving our Vision. It is not a vision in and of itself.
Employees of Leprino Foods Company will agree that most positions and departments offer a high level of growth to the employees. This comes from both promotional advancement and personal growth opportunities. In addition, we offer an extensive list of training opportunities to all levels of employees. This can range from PC training and operator training all the way to leadership training and ways to further develop the competencies possessed by successful leaders.
Mission and Philosophies
Our mission and philosophy at Leprino Foods is to establish, through our actions, an unparalleled standard of excellence in people, products, and service while increasing our market share and perpetuating a healthy company that appropriately rewards all our efforts and investments. We believe that the health and longevity of our company can best be achieved through an uncompromising commitment by all of us to Leprino Quality as a way of life. Leprino Quality is exemplified by an attitude of continuous improvement in each of the following areas:
- Product Quality: Operating our facilities in a neat, clean, orderly, and well-maintained fashion while producing distinctively superior quality cheese and whey products that add value to our customers’ businesses.
- Customer Service: Perpetuating a proactive customer-centered attitude among all of us, which produces distinguished service in every aspect of our internal and external customer relationships.
- Leadership and Innovation: Breaking traditional barriers and constantly expanding the horizons of our industry through bold leadership in product and process technology which continues to create new standards of excellence in product value.
- People: Perpetuating a fulfilling and safe work environment that:
- Values the importance of clean, organized, and well-maintained facilities,
- Encourages the involvement of everyone in the business problem-solving, decision-making process, while not tolerating Company politics,
- Fosters a willingness to innovate and stretch personal and collective boundaries,
- Provides equal opportunity for personal and leadership development,
- Promotes company pride though an unselfish, teamwork-driven attitude among all of us,
- Offers economic satisfaction through the recognition and rewarding of individual and collective contributions, and
- Maintains a focus on safety in all aspects of our business.
- Ethics: Conducting our affairs and nurturing our relationships with customers, suppliers, co-workers, mutual interest groups and others in a forthright and ethical manner.
- Citizenship: Recognizing our responsibilities toward, and encouraging involvement in, the communities of which we are a part, while respecting individual freedom of choice, and maintaining the highest standard of environmental and regulatory compliance.
As an employee of Leprino Foods, you will have a chance to make a difference by joining one of the many Leprino Employee Involvement Teams and Task Forces.
We all benefit from these teams by having employees bring better problem solving, new ideas, and efficiencies to the Company. Team members benefit personally as well. Through involvement in one or more of these teams, members enhance their knowledge of Leprino’s operations and get the opportunity to work with people outside their normal contacts, doing tasks outside their normal scope of work. Team members also learn basic tools to help identify and work through problems – tools that will help them every day in their job and their personal life.
Community Involvement
Each of our locations has employees active in the communities they work and reside in. Leprino Foods is involved either by sponsorship, participating in, or donating to many worthwhile events.
College Recruiting Click to learn more
Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer