Listen up chocolate lovers! A new career as a chocolate taster might be available soon. According to a recent Cadbury job posting, the company is seeking a part-time chocolate taster. A dream job for many, there is some restrictions associated with it.
So, just what do you have to do to become a professional chocolate taster?
According to the company’s job description, “Our Chocolate Tasters are key in helping Mondelez perfect and launch an entirely new product all over the world by tasting and providing feedback just like our consumers,” they wrote in the posting. “You will work alongside approximately 11 Chocolate Tasters and a panel leader; sharing opinions and collaborating with others to reach an agreement on taste.”
Posted by Mondelez International, Cadbury’s parent company, the job requires any potential worker to have to relocate to Wokingham, UK. But don’t worry if you don’t know anything about being a chocolate taster, the company says they will provide the proper training.
What Does it Take to be a Professional Chocolate Taster?
Being a chocolate taster is not all fun and games though. Chocolate tasting is more scientific that you would think, meriting study of any of the products being tested by the chocolate taster. As a matter of fact, the company has developed an in-depth process to ensure that only the best tasting chocolate gets to their customers.
Sampling
First off, a chocolate taster has to sample many different brands of chocolate produced by parent company Mondelez International. And that is only the start of the process. Next, chocolate tasters have to determine if the chocolate is good enough in their opinion to sell to the company’s customers.
Rating the Chocolate
Once they have sampled a variety of chocolates, and noted their findings, the chocolate tasters gather to discuss the chocolate sample, creating a unique language for that particular sample. The language for a sample encompasses such things as a description of the chocolates taste, including such labels as sweet or creamy, among other descriptors.
The Chocolate Panel
And an individual chocolate taster is not alone. They work in a chocolate panel composed of 11 other tasters, who are further moderated by a panel leader, a scientist versed in how to come to a consensus through the panel’s discussions. When discussing a particular sample, at least seven members of the panel must agree on the attributes the chocolate is labeled with.
It’s More Than Just About Taste
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You might want to skip this job if you have a bad sense of smell. According to one chocolate panelist, beside taste, smell is the most important sense for a chocolate taster. Only by taking in the sample as a whole, including its aroma, is a taster able to fully perceive a piece of chocolate.
The chocolate molecules travel up through the nasal cavity, where they can be more fully perceived. This is why it is important that chocolate tasters avoid items that can affect their sense of smell, such as drinking tea or coffee, smoking, and wearing strong fragrances.
