What does a Food Preparer do?

A food preparer or food preparation worker is the person who executes routine tasks under the supervision of chefs, food service managers, and cooks. Food preparation workers slice meat, cut vegetables, and prepare cold foods. They prepare ingredients of food for recipes as they assist cooks and chefs. Their duties and responsibilities include sifting, marinating, food safety, grating, and knife skills. They are also expected to weigh and measure dry and liquid ingredients.
Food preparer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real food preparer resumes:
- Maintain cleanliness, organization and time management of order preparation, customer service
- Follow closing procedures and maintain cleanliness of food preparation area and bathrooms.
- Operate on a POS system, and would prep and serve food.
- Clean fryers daily, closing shop with overhaul of cleaning routines and stocking freezers.
- Operate a variety of commercial cooking equipment including grills, deep fryers, and ovens.
- Clean and sanitize workstations, utensils and equipment according to sanitation guidelines.
- Preform equipment maintenance to ensure proper tolerances for precise mowing conditions.
Food preparer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Food Preparers are proficient in Food Handling, Work Ethic, and Food Products. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Food Preparers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Handling, 20%
Gained a solid understanding of sanitation requirements for equipment and food handling.
- Work Ethic, 13%
Demonstrate good work ethics and dependability.
- Food Products, 11%
Provided quality food products and customer service at a food market based pizza shop averaging $20,000 in sales per week.
- Kitchen Utensils, 8%
Maintained cleanliness of restaurant kitchen/ Wash dishes and kitchen utensils.
- Safety Standards, 7%
Followed all industrialized safety standards.
- Customer Service, 6%
Handled monetary transactions Provided exceptional customer service
Most food preparers use their skills in "food handling," "work ethic," and "food products" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential food preparer responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a food preparer to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen carefully to their customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared to the customers’ request." Additionally, a food preparer resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "staff communication and customer service relations. "
Customer-service skills. Many food preparer duties rely on customer-service skills. "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry," so a food preparer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways food preparer responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "take food and drink orders and receive payment by cash, credit cards, or atm debit cards from customers. "
Physical strength. This is an important skill for food preparers to perform their duties. For an example of how food preparer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "food and beverage serving and related workers need to be able to lift and carry stock and equipment that can weigh up to 50 pounds." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a food preparer: "restrained violent and potentially violent patients as necessary to prevent injury to self and/or others using both verbal and physical means. ".
The three companies that hire the most food preparers are:
- Whole Foods Market59 food preparers jobs
- Sonic Drive-In11 food preparers jobs
- Gate Gourmet Inc9 food preparers jobs
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Food preparer vs. Cafe associate
A cafe associate performs various support tasks to help maintain the smooth flow of operations at a cafe and ensure customer satisfaction. They ensure that the shelves are stocked with fresh and high-quality products by conducting regular evaluations and inspections, disposing of expired goods, and adding new products as necessary. They may also prepare or serve orders, make drinks using machines, and assist customers by answering inquiries or processing their payments. Moreover, a cafe associate must maintain an open communication line with co-workers and report to managers regularly.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a food preparer are more likely to require skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "kitchen utensils," and "basic math." On the other hand, a job as a cafe associate requires skills like "sam," "taking care," "culinary," and "food orders." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Cafe associates tend to make the most money working in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $29,858. In contrast, food preparers make the biggest average salary, $29,828, in the retail industry.On average, cafe associates reach similar levels of education than food preparers. Cafe associates are 0.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Food preparer vs. Kitchen staff
The kitchen staff consists of preparation workers who execute several routine tasks as directed by chefs, food service managers, and cooks. These works should have the ability to follow cooking instructions and deliver well-prepared meals. Their responsibilities include the cleanup of dishes, cooking equipment, and the working stations. They also take charge of food safety regulations, storing and sorting of ingredients, and preparing foodstuff.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real food preparer resumes. While food preparer responsibilities can utilize skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "basic math," and "beverage products," kitchen staff use skills like "quality food," "meal preparation," "food orders," and "clean environment."
On average, kitchen staff earn a higher salary than food preparers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, kitchen staff earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $30,914. Whereas food preparers have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $29,828.In general, kitchen staff achieve similar levels of education than food preparers. They're 0.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food preparer vs. Kitchen crew
A line server is responsible for assisting the guests with their needs to ensure an overall satisfying dining experience with the highest quality service. Line servers take and verify guests' orders, provide recommendation for orders, respond to the guests' inquiries regarding the menu, manage the food preparation and serving, assist guests with additional requests, and ensure strict adherence to the sanitary standards and hygienic procedures at all times. Line servers must have excellent communication and time-management skills to interact with different guests and identify their dining needs.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a food preparer is likely to be skilled in "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "kitchen utensils," and "basic math," while a typical kitchen crew is skilled in "culinary," "food quality," "food orders," and "clean kitchen."
Kitchen crews earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $30,074. Comparatively, food preparers have the highest earning potential in the retail industry, with an average salary of $29,828.kitchen crews typically earn similar educational levels compared to food preparers. Specifically, they're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food preparer vs. Line server
Types of food preparer
Updated January 8, 2025