Summary
Fruitful Day is seeking a purchaser to source fresh fruit, vegetables and other perishables for its UAE operations. The role involves negotiating with suppliers, managing product quality and availability, planning purchases against demand, and controlling costs and waste. Applicants should have 3–5+ years of purchasing or buying experience, ideally in fresh produce or food-related sectors, and strong knowledge of the UAE fruit and vegetable market. Excel skills are required; ERP experience and a UAE driving licence are preferred or advantageous.
The posting
As published on fruitfulday.com. Pulled from the employer's site and shown as they wrote it.
About Fruitful Day
Fruitful Day delivers healthy solutions for offices, events and gifting across the UAE, with fresh fruit at the heart of what we do. We work with corporate clients, events, hospitality partners and consumers, and quality, freshness and reliability are critical to our business.
We are looking for an experienced Purchaser – Fresh Produce & Perishables to take ownership of sourcing and purchasing fruit, vegetables and other perishable products for our operations.
This is a hands-on role for someone who knows the UAE fresh produce market, understands quality, seasonality, and pricing, and is confident negotiating directly with suppliers to secure the best combination of quality, availability, and cost.
Key Responsibilities
Fresh Produce Sourcing & Purchasing
- Source and purchase fresh fruit and vegetables from local UAE suppliers, wholesalers, importers and markets.
- Identify the best available product based on quality, specification, seasonality, price and customer requirements.
- Purchase other food and perishable items required across Fruitful Day's operations as needed.
- Maintain strong knowledge of UAE market pricing, product availability, origins and seasonal changes.
- Proactively identify alternative suppliers and sourcing options to reduce dependency and improve buying power.
Supplier Management & Negotiation
- Build and maintain strong relationships with trusted suppliers, wholesalers, distributors and importers.
- Negotiate pricing, payment terms, volumes, delivery schedules and product specifications.
- Continuously benchmark suppliers and market prices to ensure Fruitful Day is buying competitively.
- Identify and onboard new suppliers where they can improve quality, reliability, availability or cost.
- Review supplier performance and address recurring issues relating to quality, shortages, late deliveries or pricing.
Quality & Product Standards
- Ensure purchased products meet Fruitful Day's quality, freshness, sizing and presentation standards.
- Understand fresh produce grading, varieties, ripeness, shelf life and handling requirements.
- Work closely with the operations and production teams to manage quality issues and product rejections.
- Ensure appropriate traceability and food safety documentation is maintained where required.
Supply Planning & Inventory
- Work closely with operations, sales and production teams to understand daily and weekly requirements.
- Plan purchasing around forecast demand, confirmed orders, events and seasonal peaks.
- Maintain sufficient availability while minimizing over-ordering, spoilage and waste.
- React quickly to unexpected demand, shortages or changes in product availability.
- Recommend substitutions or alternative origins when products are unavailable or commercially unviable.
Cost Control
- Take ownership of purchasing costs across assigned categories.
- Monitor price movements and highlight significant changes or risks.
- Identify opportunities to improve gross margin through better negotiation, alternative sourcing, volume buying and supplier consolidation.
- Support management with regular market pricing and supplier insights.
- Track purchasing performance and help reduce wastage and unnecessary cost.
Cross-functional Collaboration
- Work closely with the kitchen, warehouse, operations, sales and finance teams.
- Ensure purchase orders, deliveries, invoices and supplier pricing are accurate.
- Resolve discrepancies quickly with suppliers and internal teams.
- Support new product development by sourcing new ingredients and products when required.
What We Are Looking For
- 3–5+ years of purchasing or buying experience, ideally within fresh produce, food distribution, catering, hospitality, supermarkets or foodservice.
- Strong existing knowledge of theUAE fruit and vegetable market.
- Established supplier relationships within the UAE fresh produce industry would be a significant advantage.
- Excellent negotiation skills and confidence discussing pricing and commercial terms.
- Strong understanding of fruit and vegetables including seasonality, origins, varieties, quality grades, shelf life and storage.
- Commercial mindset with a strong focus on cost, margin and value.
- Able to make fast purchasing decisions in a changing market.
- Strong attention to detail and comfortable working with purchase orders, pricing sheets and inventory systems.
- Good numerical and Excel skills.
- Experience using an ERP or purchasing system is preferred.
- UAE driving licence is an advantage.
The Person We Are Looking For
At Fruitful Day, we look for people who areGREAT:
Growth Mindset– Always looking for better suppliers, better products and better ways of working.
Resourceful– Able to solve problems quickly and find alternatives when products are unavailable.
Excellence– High standards for quality, freshness and accuracy.
Accountable– Takes ownership of purchasing decisions, costs and supplier performance.
Team Player– Works closely with operations, production, sales and finance to keep the business running smoothly.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role means Fruitful Day consistently has theright product, at the right quality, at the right time and at the right price, while building a strong and reliable supplier network that supports the company's continued growth.