Jeannil Taberdo

BS Food Science, California State University
PC-1 ProChef Certification, Culinary Institute of America

Jeannil's inspiration to enter the world of food came from closely observing her mom’s dedication to cooking homemade Filipino food nearly every day of her childhood. Aside from helping her mom prepare Filipino Flan (Leche Flan) or prepping, wrapping and frying Lumpia Jeannil also got her culinary inspiration watching cooking shows on PBS, captivated by how food and flavors worked.

Her first job was at a fast-food chain in high school, and then she pursued a food career path at California State University, Long Beach where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Food Science. She put her skills to work in a product development role right after graduation, customizing and supporting product research and development, and performing QA duties on the beverages, dips and baked goods she helped develop. After four years she made her way back to the same restaurant company she worked at in high school, only now she was developing new items for their menu rather than serving them. That role introduced her to Rich’s, where she sourced some of the ingredients and solutions for the new dishes she was creating.

Jeannil joined Rich’s in 2017 as a Culinary Manager. Among her national account partners is the same restaurant chain she grew to love throughout her career. That insider knowledge has helped her fully understand the day-to-day challenges and triumphs in the foodservice world in ways that few other people do.

“My favorite part is the food. I get to really develop with new products and new ingredients.”

She absolutely loves helping her customers craft new and exciting offerings. To explore current flavor and food trends and stay on top of what customers are craving, Jeannil loves going to different restaurants to experience a variety of foods. But her favorite meal is still her mom’s kare-kare, a complex Filipino dish that exemplifies all the love and exploration food can embody.