We are seeking an entrepreneurial individual to co-create signature local food products for the 10C Nourish Café & the Nourish Farmers’ Market Booth! This role is open to current students in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, University of Guelph.
10C is seeking a self-driven, detail-oriented, outgoing changemaker to help launch a new initiative: the development of signature food products that will fill a taste/flavour/nutrition gap, generate revenue, spotlight local producers, and expand awareness of 10C’s work across the community. You will interface with other members of the 10C team, while leading this initiative.
- Location: Guelph, Ontario (hybrid with in-person kitchen and product development work required)
- Contract duration is flexible from 6-9 months
- Hours: Part-time / project-based
- Compensation: $25 per hour approx. 10-30 hours per week. Increased hours during summer months is an option. Maximum total contract value for this position over the period is $10,000
- This role will require the candidate to use their own computer
- Application deadline: 5:00pm Friday February 20, 2026. We will interview for this role on a rolling basis.
About 10C
10C Shared Space is a community hub powered by food, collaboration, and social enterprise. Through the Nourish Kitchen + Café and the Guelph Farmers’ Market, 10C promotes local food systems, small-scale production, education, and sustainability. We celebrate local producers, local ingredients, sustainable sourcing, and the connections food creates between people and place.
10C is committed to learning, equity and building a diverse community in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We welcome team members with the knowledge and skills to productively work with diverse communities. 10C specifically encourages applications from those across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, and lived experiences. Please note – this is an on-site role in Guelph, Ontario.
If you are comfortable highlighting your lived experience in your application, this will help us consider your application in a holistic way. We ask that you please review our Kindness, Caring and Inclusion Policy.
About the Role
We’re seeking a creative and entrepreneurial Food Product Development Lead to design, test, and launch new food or beverage products that can be sold through Nourish Café, the 10C Nourish Farmers’ Market booth, and partner retail channels. This role is ideal for a food innovator—someone who loves ideas, product design, recipe development, small-batch production, and building meaningful connections across the local food ecosystem.
You will steward product development from idea to implementation, including:
Product Development
- Research opportunities and identify a viable food or beverage concept that aligns with 10C’s mission and strengths
- Create and refine recipes using primarily local, seasonal ingredients
- Develop scalable small-batch production processes suitable to start onsite in Nourish kitchen facility
- Source and select packaging that meets public health food safety standards
- Manage all product information, including sales information, product labeling, ingredients lists, nutrition facts, shelf-life testing, and relevant certification details
- Be open to social enterprise employment training opportunities in the product implementation design
Local Sourcing & Partnerships
- Identify and connect with local farms, processors, producers, and 10C members
- Build a sustainable ingredient sourcing plan
- Strengthen food-sector partnerships across the 10C network
Testing, Launch & Sales
- Pilot the product through café tastings, special events, or farmers’ market sales and sampling
- Collaborate with 10C’s communications team and external suppliers on branding, packaging, and storytelling
- Collect customer feedback and refine the product as needed
Operational Handoff
- Develop a costing model, pricing structure, distribution plan and revenue projections
- Document production workflows and support transition and training of ongoing production to the Nourish team or future food entrepreneurs
What You Bring
- A love for local food and food creators
- Experience in culinary creation, food entrepreneurship, or product development
- Strong knowledge of food costing and small-batch production
- Creativity and willingness to iterate quickly
- Understanding of local food systems and sustainable sourcing
- Ability to work independently while collaborating with a supportive team
- Comfort working in a commercial or community kitchen environment
Why This Role Matters
This project will create a flagship product for the 10C and Nourish brand—something that:
- Generates new earned revenue to support community food programming
- Builds visibility for 10C, the Guelph Farmers’ Market, and the local food sector
- Strengthens relationships with regional growers and processors
- Demonstrates the power of community-led food entrepreneurship
Candidate Eligibility (per the criteria of our funding program)
Applicants must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible:
- The candidate is a current student in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph.
Application deadline: 5:00pm Friday, February 20 2026. We will interview for this role on a rolling basis.
If you have questions or require assistance with your application, email [email protected]. Please do not e-mail your application, use the apply link above.
