The posting
Job Title: Assistant Manager - Procurement (Raw Material)
Location: Mumbai (In-office role)
Function: Procurement - Raw Material
Reports To: Sr. Manager - Procurement
Who we are
At The Whole Truth, our mission is to ‘re-build the world’s trust in its food’. We believe consumers have lost trust in big-food companies because they’ve been selling half-truths for ages. We believe the only way to remedy this, is for someone to stand up and speak the whole truth.
What we do
We are India’s first (and perhaps only) 100% Clean Label food company. What that means is we make food so clean, (only) we can declare each ingredient proudly upfront. #nothingtohide.
Somebody has to actually go find the real almonds, the real dates, the real cacao, the real whey and make sure it shows up on time, at the right price, at the right spec, without us quietly cutting corners just to save two rupees a kilo.That somebody is you.
We're not going to dress this up. Sourcing ingredients for a company that's obsessed with clean labels is harder than sourcing for a company that doesn't care. You can't just find the cheapest almond supplier you have to find the one who won't quietly blend in a cheaper origin, won't fudge the moisture content, and won't ghost you the one week you actually need a COA. That means more mandi visits, more sample testing, more lab reports, more awkward conversations with vendors who are used to nobody checking and yes, more paperwork than you'd like.
If that sounds tedious, this isn't for you. If that sounds like exactly the kind of problem you want to solve, keep reading.
What you'll actually be doing
- Sourcing core ingredients — nuts, seeds, dates, cacao, whey/protein isolates, oils, spices, and other raw materials — from vendors who meet our quality bar, not just our price bar
- Reviewing and enforcing ingredient specifications (moisture %, purity, origin, allergen status, contaminant limits) against every incoming lot — not just trusting the vendor's word on it
- Chasing down Certificates of Analysis (COAs), FSSAI licenses, and other compliance documentation for every raw material batch, and flagging anything that doesn't add up
- Negotiating rates, payment terms, and delivery schedules — while factoring in that agri-commodities move with the season, the monsoon, and international prices, not just with your negotiation skills
- Placing and tracking raw material POs end-to-end: issuing, following up, expediting, and fire-fighting when a shipment of cashews is stuck at a checkpoint two days before a production run
- Coordinating closely with QA/QC to get samples tested before materials hit the production floor, and holding the line when a batch doesn't pass, even under production pressure
- Managing raw material inventory and shelf-life tracking so we're not overstocked on anything perishable or understocked right before a big production batch
- Auditing and onboarding new ingredient vendors — site visits, sample trials, price benchmarking, and background checks, not just a phone call and a quote
- Keeping a live pulse on commodity price trends (almond prices, cacao prices, dairy prices) so we're not caught off guard by a market swing
- Managing end-to-end import purchase orders — from placing the order with an overseas supplier to the material clearing customs and reaching our warehouse
- Coordinating with freight forwarders, customs house agents (CHAs), and shipping lines to track shipments and resolve delays before they become production problems
- Handling import documentation — proforma invoices, commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading/airway bills, certificates of origin, and any FSSAI/customs clearance paperwork specific to food ingredient imports
- Coordinating with Finance on import payment terms — advance payments, letters of credit (LC), and foreign currency exchange exposure
- Staying on top of import duty, GST on imports, and any regulatory changes (FSSAI import licenses, DGFT norms) that could affect cost or clearance timelines
- Building relationships with 2–3 reliable freight/CHA partners so an urgent shipment doesn't turn into a week of phone tag
- Flagging landed cost accurately — freight, duty, insurance, and clearance charges all factored in, not just the invoice value — so procurement decisions are based on real cost, not sticker price
What we need from you
- 3–5 years of experience specifically in raw material / ingredient procurement — food, nutraceutical, or FMCG manufacturing background strongly preferred. If your experience is mostly in packaging or capex procurement, this isn't the right fit
- Working knowledge of ingredient specs and quality documentation — you should know what a COA is, why moisture content matters, and why "natural" isn't a specification
- Comfortable with agri-commodity dynamics — seasonality, harvest cycles, and price volatility on things like nuts, dairy, and cacao aren't a surprise to you
- Some familiarity with FSSAI norms and food safety compliance for raw materials — or a genuine willingness to learn it fast
- Comfortable with numbers — costing, negotiation, Excel/Sheets, and not getting flustered when a vendor tries to slip in a price hike disguised as a "market correction"
- The stubbornness to reject a batch or a vendor when the quality doesn't check out, even if it means a delay
- Solid communication skills — you'll be talking to mandi traders, large-format vendors, QA teams, and production planners, often all in the same hour
- A genuine interest in food and ingredients helps — you don't need to be a food technologist, but you should care about what's actually in the bag before it goes into the mixer
- Exposure to import procurement — Incoterms, import documentation, or working with freight forwarders/CHAs — is a strong plus, though we can train the right person on this
One honest disclaimer
This isn't a role where you sit back and issue POs off a template. Ingredient vendors will test your patience. Some will swear a batch is "the same as last time" when the lab report says otherwise. You'll occasionally have to hold up production because a raw material didn't pass, and that will not make you popular in the moment. We think the job is worth it because the alternative — not checking — is how food companies end up lying to their customers about what's actually in the pack. But we'd rather tell you that upfront than have you find out in week three.
