Taste Testing Jobs: 20 Companies Hiring Food Testers Right Now!

Food tasting is essentially another form of product testing, but you get to eat!

According to Indeed.com, the average salary of a professional food tester in recent years has been around $58,000.

That’s not bad for putting on a white uniform and enjoying all kinds of food every day.

How to Find a Taste Testing Gig

When we talk about professional food testing, we aren’t referring to the occasional opportunities you might find through a paid survey panel or focus group. We’re talking about a full-time job where you get to sample food all year round.

However, becoming a professional food tester isn’t easy. Individuals with a degree in culinary arts are typically preferred for these positions.

Thankfully, there are other ways to find taste-testing opportunities. These include joining sensory testing agencies, becoming a panelist for a market research company, and participating in studies conducted by local restaurants and food manufacturers.

The downside of these options is that the studies are few and far between. On average, you might secure a dozen or so studies each year.

That said, it’s still a fun way to earn extra cash in your spare time. You can increase the number of studies you qualify for by signing up with as many sensory testing companies as possible.

Companies Offering Taste Tester Jobs

Sensory testing agencies are similar to market research companies that conduct surveys and focus groups for businesses and manufacturers. However, sensory testing agencies specialize exclusively in food-related studies.

Joining one is just as simple as signing up for any of the many online survey sites I’ve listed here. You register for free, complete your profile, and based on your demographic information, you’ll be invited to participate in food testing studies. You’ll be compensated with cash or checks for your time and effort.

Here are a few major sensory testing companies that conduct food testing studies for businesses and manufacturers:

1. The Consumer Product Testing Centre

The Consumer Product Testing Centre (CPTC) is part of the Food Processing Development Division of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

They look for panelists in Alberta, Canada, for their taste testing studies, which could include anything from snack products (potato chips, tortilla chips, kettle chips, snack mixes, crackers), pasta meals, and yogurt to meat products (beef steak, bison steak, fried chicken, chicken fingers, pork chops, deli meats), sports drinks, energy bars, chocolate, and more.

According to the site, panel participation is usually limited to 3-4 times a year, and an average taste testing session lasting around 15 minutes pays about $15.

2. Matrix Sciences Consumer Research (formerly Contract Testing Inc. and Northland Laboratories)

This is one of the larger companies in this field. They work with many different food manufacturers and restaurants, so as you can imagine, you’ll be eating and testing a wide variety of food items, from frozen dinners and crackers to soup, cookies, pizza, dessert, and more.

According to the company, you may be able to participate in up to 5 food testing studies each year.

3. Northland Laboratories

Update: Northland Laboratories was acquired by Matrix Sciences Consumer Research (link above).

This company has its sensory facility located in Northbrook, Illinois. As such, you need to live within close proximity to be able to participate.

Their taste testing studies last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or more, depending on the subject.

Food Manufacturers That Hire Taste Testers

As mentioned earlier, some food manufacturers also hire people directly for their food testing sessions.

Here are a few that are hiring:

4. McCormick Corporation

If you live near Hunt Valley, Maryland, where their facility is located, you can participate in their food test studies up to 4 times a year—once every three months.

5. Schwan Food Company

Yes, this is the same famous Schwan food company. To be eligible, you need to live in or near Marshall, Minnesota, where their facility is located. Most of their sessions pay an average of about $15 and last around 15 minutes.

And according to the company, you may be invited to participate in studies as often as every week (with a limit of 3 times a month) or as rarely as two or three times a year, depending on your demographic profile.

6. Solae

Update: No longer available.
If you only want cash, skip this one as it rewards its participants with points that can be redeemed for gift cards to various places, including restaurants like Red Lobster.

Market Research Companies

Another option is to sign up with a few market research firms that have local focus group facilities. These companies also conduct studies in their facilities from time to time. It won’t hurt to sign up with them and get notified when there are food testing studies you may qualify for.

Here are a few:

7. Focus & Testing, Inc.

• Phone: (818) 347-7077
• Area: Calabasas, California

8. Herron Associates, Inc.

• Phone: (800) 392-3828
• Area: Tampa, Florida

9. Curion Insights (formerly PVR Research)

• Phone: (770) 813-4902
• Area: Duluth, Georgia

10. P&K Research

• Phone: (773) 774-3100
• Area: Chicago, Illinois

11. Sago (formerly Baltimore Research)

• Phone: (410) 583-9991
• Area: Baltimore, Maryland

12. AccuData Market Research Inc.

• Phone: (407) 282-3770
• Area: Orlando, Florida

13. Peters Marketing Research, Inc.

• Phone: (314) 469-9022
• Area: St. Louis, Missouri

14. Advanced Focus (formerly Razor Focus)

• Phone: (203) 504-3240
• Area: Stamford, Connecticut

15. Schlesinger Associates New Jersey

• Phone: (732) 906-1122
• Area: Iselin, New Jersey

16. Spectrum Discovery Center

• Phone: (704) 250-1200
• Area: Kannapolis, North Carolina

17. Taylor Research, Inc.

• Phone: (800) 922-1545
• Area: San Diego, California

18. Adelman Research Group

• Phone: (716) 876-6450
• Area: Buffalo, New York

19. Focus Market Research

• Phone: (612) 869-8181
• Area: Minneapolis, Minnesota

20. Performance Plus / Boston Field & Focus

• Phone: (508) 872-1287
• Area: Framingham, Massachusetts

Other Options

Of course, you can always rely on the good old methods like checking local classifieds, newspaper ads, Craigslist, and job sites such as Indeed and Monster to find food testing opportunities. However, this can be very time-consuming and challenging to monitor regularly.

To make it easier, you can set up a Google Alert. This way, whenever there’s a new ad for food testers on any of these sites, you’ll get an email notification right away.

Once you spot an ad, be sure to respond as quickly as possible. These positions fill up fast—after all, who wouldn’t want to get paid to eat?

While researching for this post, I came across some food testing job listings on popular job sites:

1. Taste Tester Jobs on Indeed
2. Taste Jobs on CareerBuilder

Can You Get Paid to Eat Fast Food?

Yes! If you can get paid to eat dog food, it’s no surprise there are opportunities to get paid for eating fast food too.

You can indeed participate in fast food taste testing for pay. However, these opportunities are rare. Your best bet is to keep an eye on local universities and medical centers, as they occasionally conduct studies that involve eating fast food over a specific period.

For instance, back in 2012, Washington University in my home city of St. Louis conducted a study where participants were paid $3,500 to eat fast food for three months as part of an obesity research study.

Although that particular study has ended, you can still sign up for free to participate in upcoming studies if you live in or near St. Louis. Here’s the official Research Participant Registry page for Washington University.

Getting Paid to Taste Food: Final Thoughts

Unless you’re one of the lucky few who manage to land a full-time position with a major food company, most of us aspiring taste testers will need to use the resources mentioned in this article to find opportunities.

While you may not earn a $55,000 salary, you can still make a little extra cash in your free time—and get to enjoy a variety of foods along the way!