Job Description – Central Store Keeper
Department: Stores / Supply Chain & Operations
Designation: Central Store Keeper
Location: Bengaluru
Employment Type: Full-Time
Role Overview
The Central Store Keeper will be responsible for the end-to-end management of central inventory, including receiving raw materials, vegetable sorting, storage, stock control, kitchen-wise dispatches, finished-product distribution, documentation, reconciliation, and store hygiene.
The role requires strong attention to stock accuracy, FIFO/FEFO, food safety, batch traceability, timely dispatch, and coordination with Procurement, QA, Production, Operations, Logistics, and Kitchen teams.
Key Responsibilities
1. Raw Material Receiving & Inspection
- Receive raw materials against approved PO/purchase orders or purchase lists.
- Verify quantity, weight, quality, brand, batch number, MFD and expiry/best-before dates.
- Inspect incoming vegetables for freshness, colour, size, damage, spoilage and pest/insect infestation.
- Reject or report materials that do not meet approved specifications.
- Prepare and maintain GRN and inward registers.
- Immediately report shortages, excess, damages or quality concerns to Procurement, QA and relevant stakeholders.
2. Vegetable Receiving & Sorting
- Receive vegetables based on daily operational requirements.
- Sort and inspect vegetables before storage.
- Remove rotten, damaged or poor-quality pieces.
- Weigh and record accepted and rejected quantities.
- Maintain received vs. accepted vs. rejected quantity records.
- Maintain supplier-wise quality and rejection records.
- Ensure proper storage and timely dispatch as per production requirements.
3. Daily Kitchen Dispatch
- Receive and verify kitchen-wise indents.
- Prepare kitchen-wise picking lists.
- Pick and double-check the required materials and quantities.
- Pack and label materials separately for each kitchen.
- Prepare Material Transfer Notes / Dispatch Challans.
- Ensure dispatches are made accurately and on time.
- Obtain acknowledgement/confirmation from receiving kitchens.
- Update inventory immediately after every dispatch.
4. Central Distribution of Gravies & Finished Products
- Receive finished gravies and other products from production.
- Verify quantity, batch details, packaging and sealing condition.
- Check storage temperature as per approved SOP.
- Maintain batch-wise inventory and complete traceability.
- Follow FEFO (First Expiry, First Out) for products with expiry dates.
- Prepare city/state-wise dispatches as required.
- Ensure the correct batch and quantity are dispatched to each kitchen.
5. FMCG & SKU Inventory Management
- Maintain SKU-wise inventory for sauces, spices, packaging, beverages and other FMCG items.
- Record batch numbers, manufacturing dates and expiry dates.
- Follow FIFO/FEFO as applicable.
- Maintain minimum and maximum stock levels.
- Identify near-expiry, slow-moving and non-moving inventory.
- Prepare monthly ageing reports.
- Highlight potential stock-outs and replenishment requirements.
6. Stock Accuracy & Inventory Control
- Maintain accurate daily inventory records.
- Reconcile physical stock against system/Excel stock.
- Track:
- Opening stock
- Receipts
- Issues
- Transfers
- Returns
- Damaged stock
- Wastage
- Closing stock
- Investigate and report stock variances.
- Ensure all stock movements are recorded promptly.
7. FIFO & FEFO Compliance
- Follow FIFO – First In, First Out wherever applicable.
- Follow FEFO – First Expiry, First Out for expiry-sensitive products.
- Apply appropriate stock rotation practices for:
- Vegetables – FIFO + freshness control
- Gravies – FEFO + batch control
- FMCG – FEFO
- Packaging – FIFO
- Frozen products – FEFO + temperature control
8. Cold & Frozen Storage Monitoring
- Monitor chiller and freezer temperatures.
- Maintain daily temperature logs.
- Immediately report temperature deviations.
- Ensure storage areas are not overloaded.
- Minimise unnecessary opening of cold-storage doors.
- Ensure proper product labelling and segregation.
- Maintain appropriate segregation of raw and cooked products as per SOP.
9. Material Identification & Labelling
Ensure every material is appropriately identified with:
- Product Name
- Batch Number
- Manufacturing Date
- Expiry/Best-Before Date
- Quantity
- Date Received
- Storage Location
Maintain proper movement flow:
Receiving → QC/Sorting → Storage → Picking → Dispatch → Returns/Rejection
10. Dispatch Documentation
Maintain complete documentation for every dispatch, including:
- Kitchen Indent
- Picking List
- Material Issue Slip
- Stock Transfer Note
- Dispatch Challan
- Vehicle/Transport Details
- Quantity Dispatched
- Receiver Acknowledgement
- Batch Details, wherever applicable
11. Returns, Rejections & Damaged Stock
- Manage kitchen returns, excess stock, damaged stock, expired stock and rejected materials.
- Handle wrong materials and short supplies.
- Coordinate vendor returns where required.
- Segregate returned/rejected material from regular inventory.
- Ensure returned material is evaluated before being returned to usable stock.
12. Stock Forecasting & Replenishment
Monitor:
- Daily consumption
- Current stock
- Minimum/maximum stock levels
- Lead time
- Upcoming production requirements
- Kitchen requirements
- Interstate dispatch requirements
Proactively highlight replenishment requirements and potential stock-outs.
13. Cross-Functional Coordination
Coordinate closely with:
- Procurement: Incoming materials, shortages, vendor issues and rejections
- Production/Central Kitchen: Gravy and finished-product availability
- Head Chef/R&D: Product requirements and specifications
- QA/Food Safety: Quality, rejection and temperature-related concerns
- Operations: Kitchen-wise requirements
- Logistics: Dispatch planning and vehicle movement
- Kitchen Store/Kitchen Managers: Receipt confirmation, shortages and returns
Daily MIS & Reporting
Prepare/maintain the Daily Central Store MIS, covering:
- Opening Stock
- Today's Receipts
- Kitchen Dispatches
- Interstate Dispatches
- Closing Stock
- Shortages
- Excess Stock
- Damaged/Rejected Stock
- Wastage
- Near-Expiry Stock
- Stock-Out Items
- Pending Purchase
- Kitchen Returns
- Pending Dispatches
- Temperature Deviations
- Stock Variances
Monthly Inventory Responsibilities
- Conduct physical stock counts.
- Reconcile physical vs. system/Excel inventory.
- Prepare slow-moving and non-moving stock reports.
- Prepare near-expiry and expired stock reports.
- Prepare wastage and vendor rejection reports.
- Prepare kitchen return reports.
- Prepare stock ageing reports.
- Track inventory value.
- Prepare stock variance reports.
- Identify discrepancies and implement corrective actions.
Hygiene, Safety & Store Management
- Ensure the store is clean, dry and organised.
- Maintain clean racks and storage areas.
- Keep food materials appropriately elevated above the floor.
- Protect food from contamination.
- Monitor and report pest activity.
- Ensure chemicals are stored separately from food.
- Maintain proper segregation of materials.
- Ensure all materials are properly labelled.
- Complete daily housekeeping checks.
- Immediately report hygiene, pest-control or food-safety concerns.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Stock Accuracy: Maintain high physical vs. system stock accuracy.
- Dispatch Accuracy: Correct material and quantity dispatched to every kitchen.
- On-Time Dispatch: Timely fulfilment of kitchen requirements.
- FIFO/FEFO Compliance: Effective stock rotation with minimal expiry losses.
- Wastage Control: Minimise damage, spoilage and avoidable wastage.
- Stock Variance: Maintain minimum unexplained stock discrepancies.
- Documentation Accuracy: Complete and timely GRNs, transfer notes, dispatch records and stock reports.
- Temperature Compliance: Maintain required cold/frozen storage conditions.
- Inventory Availability: Avoid operational stock-outs through proactive replenishment.
- Store Hygiene: Maintain food-safe, clean and organised storage conditions.
Required Skills & Competencies
- Strong inventory and stock-management skills.
- Knowledge of FIFO/FEFO principles.
- Good understanding of raw materials, FMCG and food products.
- Basic understanding of food safety and hygiene practices.
- Strong numerical and reconciliation skills.
- Good documentation and record-keeping ability.
- Attention to detail and accuracy.
- Ability to manage multiple kitchen dispatches.
- Strong coordination and communication skills.
- Basic proficiency in MS Excel / Google Sheets / Inventory Management Systems.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced food production/central kitchen environment.
Experience & Qualification
Qualification: Graduate / Diploma in Supply Chain, Stores, Inventory Management, Operations or a related field preferred.
Experience: 2–3 years of experience in stores, inventory, warehouse, central kitchen, food production, FMCG or related operations.
Preferred: Experience handling food/raw-material inventory and multi-location/kitchen dispatch operations.
Core Accountability
The Central Store Keeper is accountable for ensuring that the right material, in the right quantity, right quality, right batch and right condition reaches the right kitchen at the right time, while maintaining accurate inventory, proper documentation, food safety, FIFO/FEFO and minimum wastage.
Benefits:
- Life insurance
- Provident Fund
Work Location: In person
