Woolworths TASTE: Food Assistant Internship

About the role

Get your foot in the door to begin your foodie career! Food assistants are an essential support to food stylists at TASTE - we are offering a 12 month paid internship to develop the right candidate into a future food assistant. This is a hands-on role ideal for someone with a passion for food, a keen eye for detail and an interest in the world of food styling and content production. This position is based in Cape Town.

Key responsibilities include

• Food preparation: Assisting in preparing, assembling and plating food according to the food stylist's direction, ensuring every dish is presented to a high standard for camera.

• Organisation: Maintaining organisation of equipment, kitchen tools and ingredients to keep the styling area running smoothly and efficiently.

• Collections & deliveries: Assisting with the collection and delivery of ingredients, props and equipment as needed for a shoot.

• Work area maintenance: Keeping styling areas clean and organised throughout a shoot to maintain a professional and hygienic working environment.

• Storage & labelling: Labelling and storing food correctly after use, ensuring freshness, safety and easy retrieval for continuity during multi-day shoots.

• Ingredient & prop tracking: Tracking ingredients and props, and flagging items that need to be replenished to keep shoots running without interruption.

• Recipe writing: Assisting with the writing and documentation of recipes.

• Costings: Supporting the team with costing of recipes.

• Ingredient sourcing: Sourcing and selecting high-quality ingredients.

• Propping assistance: Assisting in the propping of sets and surfaces to support the visual direction of each shoot. We're looking for someone who has

• Completed their culinary training and is wanting to pursue a career in food styling.

• A genuine passion for food and an interest in food styling, photography, or content production.

• The ability to follow instructions and adapt quickly on set.

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to keep a workspace tidy under pressure.

• A proactive, willing-to-learn attitude - no task is too small.

• Reliability and good timekeeping, including availability for early starts and occasional weekend shoots.

• The ability to work effectively in a fast-paced creative studio or on location, adapting to different environments and production setups.

• Basic food safety and hygiene awareness Skills you will acquire during your internship

Throughout the internship, you will develop practical skills that will serve as a strong foundation for a career in food styling, content production or the broader food industry.

• Food styling fundamentals - Hands-on experience in preparing, assembling and plating food for camera, learning the principles of colour, texture and composition.

• On-set production skills - Understanding how a content shoot runs from start to finish, working alongside stylists, photographers and art directors.

• Food safety & hygiene - Practical knowledge of safe food handling, correct storage and labelling practices across multi-day productions.

• Attention to detail - Training your eye to notice the small details that separate good food presentation from great.

• Time management & adaptability - Prioritising tasks, meeting shoot deadlines and adapting quickly when plans change on set. What we offer

• Mentorship from experienced food stylists and content production professionals.

• Real, hands-on experience on advertising, editorial and commercial food shoots.

• A portfolio of work showcasing the shoots and content you contributed to.

• Exposure to the full lifecycle of food content production - from brief to final delivery.

• A supportive, creative team environment where questions and curiosity are welcomed.

• A strong reference and career pathway guidance upon successful completion.

How to apply

If you feel this would be the perfect career opportunity for you, please submit your CV along with a brief cover letter explaining why you are interested in food styling and what you hope to gain from this internship. If you have any food preparation, styling or creative work to share - even personal projects - please include examples.

Please upload copies of your university results where available.

Given the employment equity policy of Media24, preference will be given to suitable candidates from the designated groups.