Would You Quit Your Engineering Job to Become a Chocolate Taster?

Fresh off the line chocolate is as wonderfuli as it is inaccurate.

They don't need a 12th in house tester!?

They need a real in house tester.

We know those chocolates are shipped globally. This undoubtedly has an effect appearance, aroma and flavor.

I insist a representative PM for information so they can begin shipment to my remote test facility.

Wild temperature swings of the shipment throughout the year guarantee results that will not be accurately duplicated in house.

Real life pairings with other food and drink will drive selection in wat not duplicated in their laboratories.

There is an international aspect to be appreciated as well.

For example. you don't pick a Chicagoin to be a taste tester for a pizza that will be sold in China.

Wise words and a valid statement...as one who receives shipments of chocolate in the mail, I can tell you that when you open a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.....

I would say...

...to your nearest Chocolatier, and buy your chocolate fresh...

Too much of a good thing. You would hate chocolate before too long, I suspect. I've known people who worked in a bakery who tell me that the aroma gets old after a while spending all day there.

Love chocolate, but sorry, "No," I wouldn't change careers.

I'm not a "Willie Wonka" person (wink).

This sounds like the ideal position for Agustus Gloop.

Working in a chocolate factory is not as glamorous as it sounds. Over the last 40 years I have provided and installed engineering and process equipment to several chocolate factories. After working there for a full day the chocolate smell which comes from the airborne chocolate fats become ingrained in your clothes, hair and skin. The regular workers tell me that you get used to it and don't notice it after a while but I, and my family when I got home, found it to be very unpleasant. It takes a few days and multiple baths/showers to fully disperse. In most companies if you see a misshaped chocolate on the production line you can remove and eat it. Misshapes are also usually sold from a factory shop to workers but they must be for personal or family consumption and cannot be resold. (Taking a piece which is fit for resale off the line is strictly forbidden) The workers don't seem to take advantage of these perks, most don't eat chocolate at all.

Unpleasant ? It seems that the smell of chocolate would be the most delightful aroma in the world. That scent would be : food on the table, new school clothes for the kids, a new sewing machine for the wife, a new drill for dad, a new car, a family vacation, etc.

All around the valley where I live are dairies. Many people complain about the smells and suggest that the dairies move away. When I over hear such talk I remind them of the benefits of milk and milk production : fertilizer, exports, processed foods industry, milk in cereal, milk in coffee and milk in chocolate.

You are confusing the smell of coco fats with the smell of refined chocolate. That is like comparing crude oil with aircraft fuel. Chocolate factories reek from the smell of what they remove before they offer the product to the public.

The little red icon is a local chocolate producer that has had it's smell mapped during different conditions.

There are those who wish the smell to go away, but most people find it to be quite nice. The alternative might be the dump nearby. There are suburban sewage treatment plants that are definitely stinky.

Fortunately the stock yards are a thing of the past.

I've driven past this place a few times... and when the wind is in the wrong direction.. It's not right.

That said.. I'd be a real world tester, only enjoying chocolate on my terms and schedule.

I have yet to hear from them, but it is the weekend. I'll hold out hope.

I was doing some work at a plastics plant on the edge of a town. It was summer and the doors were open. I kept smelling something dead. It was strong, I was thinking it was a dead cow from the pasture out the back door.

When I asked the man I was working with, he told me about a mushroom plant a few blocks away. With the wind in the right direction, it was definitely aromatic.

Worked in two sugar refineries, and sometimes the smells were real bad, but I still like my coffee sweet!