Japanese Bilingual Food Service Sales Representative

Food Service Sales Representative

Location: Irvine, CA

Work Style: Hybrid / Field-Based

Salary Range：$72K-$90K (DOE)

Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt

Travel: Approximately 50–70% nationwide

Position Overview

A global food ingredient company is seeking a Japanese-English bilingual Food Service Sales Representative to expand its presence within the U.S. restaurant and foodservice market.

This position will focus on developing new business with restaurant operators, chain accounts, and foodservice distributors while promoting premium edible oils and functional ingredient solutions. The ideal candidate has strong B2B sales experience in the U.S. foodservice industry, understands restaurant operations, and enjoys building long-term relationships with customers and distribution partners.

This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated sales professional to join a growing U.S. business and introduce high-quality, innovative food solutions to restaurant operators nationwide.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop new business within targeted restaurant segments, including Japanese restaurants, sushi concepts, ramen and noodle shops, rice-based concepts, and other Asian foodservice accounts.
• Build and maintain relationships with restaurant operators, chain headquarters, distributors, and foodservice partners.
• Work closely with distributor buyers and sales teams to support product registration, promotions, product demonstrations, and sales training.
• Present product features and benefits to customers, including how the products may improve kitchen performance, food quality, consistency, and operational efficiency.
• Identify customer needs and recommend appropriate products and solutions.
• Support pricing discussions, contract negotiations, and account development activities.
• Participate in national and regional foodservice trade shows, industry events, and customer meetings.
• Gather and report market information, including competitor products, pricing, merchandising strategies, customer feedback, and industry trends.
• Maintain accurate customer, opportunity, and sales activity records using CRM systems.
• Track performance metrics such as sales growth, new account conversions, distribution expansion, forecasting accuracy, and gross margin.
• Collaborate with internal business development, marketing, technical, and product teams.

Qualifications

Required

• Business-level proficiency in both Japanese and English.
• Bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum of three years of B2B sales experience within the U.S. foodservice, restaurant, or food distribution industry.
• Experience working with foodservice distributors, restaurant chains, or corporate restaurant headquarters.
• Understanding of restaurant kitchen operations and food ingredients.
• Strong relationship-building, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and CRM systems such as Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics.
• Ability to travel nationwide approximately 50–70% of the time.
• Valid U.S. driver’s license.
• Authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.

Preferred

• Experience working with restaurant menu development, operations, culinary, or R&D teams.
• Existing industry knowledge or professional network within ramen, noodle, Japanese, Asian cuisine, foodservice, or quick-service restaurant markets.
• Experience with pricing, contract negotiations, and distributor account management.
• Strong analytical skills and experience using sales data to identify opportunities.
• Knowledge of digital marketing or customer engagement strategies.
• Experience selling edible oils, functional fats, specialty ingredients, or related food products.

Compensation

• Base Salary: Starting from approximately $72,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications.
• Performance-based bonus or incentive opportunities may be available.

Benefits

The company offers a competitive benefits package, which may include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company matching
• Paid time off and paid training
• Life insurance
• Mileage, travel, and cell phone reimbursement
• Flexible and hybrid work arrangements
• Professional development and advancement opportunities
• Relocation assistance may be considered

Why Join

This role offers the opportunity to help grow an expanding foodservice business in the United States while introducing innovative, high-quality food ingredient solutions to restaurant operators and distribution partners. The successful candidate will have significant visibility within the organization and the opportunity to directly influence business development and market expansion.