Team Spotlight

When Oscar Yangari interviewed at CKC Good Food, he was looking for both a new opportunity and a company where he could grow in his career and be challenged. He had previously worked for a catering company, which provided helpful food service experience. Director of Operations Matt Anderson assured him CKC Good Food was a company the advancement opportunities he sought.

In November 2016, he started as a Driver Coordinator, helping assemble morning deliveries to ensure clients received everything they needed for daily meal service. Oscar soon advanced to a driver and then worked on the prep team. Before long, he was asking Matt for a new challenge. He took the big step of becoming an Offsite Kitchen Manager with full responsibility for running a kitchen in one of the CKC Good Food’s client schools.

“In general, I like to challenge myself and like to learn,” Oscar said. “I want to grow myself personally and professionally and help the company grow too.”

For the past five years, Oscar has been the Kitchen Manager at Prairie Seeds Academy in Brooklyn Park, where he oversees a team that preps and serves meals to more than 600 students a day. His daily responsibilities include managing food and paper orders and deliveries; helping prep, cook and serve meals; completing food production reports and other paperwork; and overall kitchen operations and safety.

He appreciates the initial and ongoing training and support the company has provided him as he stepped into the role. Laurie Yohn, Director of Client Services, has visited the school regularly to answer any questions and support Oscar and his team.

Oscar will be taking on a new role and another new challenge for the 2023-24 school year, as Prairie Seeds will become a self-managed food service program after summer meal service concludes.

“I like working for CKC Good Food because there are places to grow," he said. "I like to continue learning and believe we need to push ourselves to always become better.”

In his free time, Oscar loves playing sports, particularly soccer. He also enjoys quiet time in nature while fishing streams in Wisconsin.