Jobs in the Culinary Industry Besides Chef

The culinary world is often linked to chefs, restaurant work, and the act of cooking -- because those are the obvious applications, right? Not so fast. The culinary world includes many non-chef applications that don't revolve around running a restaurant and serving diners.

If you like food and want to do something with it professionally, but you're not interested in being a chef, having anything to do with restaurants, or even managing other people, you have plenty of options.

Food Personalities, Writers, Photographers, and Stylists

Probably the most visible alternative food careers are the food personalities like judges and hosts on shows; food writers who delve into food history and trends (note: this is not the same as a restaurant reviewer); food photographers who take photos for magazines, books, and professional websites; and food stylists, who make food look good before that photo shoot. By the way, food photography and styling involve both real food and those nifty tricks you see in videos showing how fake food is created.

Recipe and Product Developers

But what if you actually do want to work with food, just not in a chef/manager capacity? You could be a recipe or product developer for a company or magazine. Recipe testers can also fall under this umbrella.

You'd spend your time thinking up new products that a company could sell, such as new fruit dishes for a state fruit commission or institute. You could develop recipes for a cooking show or magazine. You could be among the team of testers who actually try out these new recipes and give them an approval. Such as those "test kitchen" approvals you see on recipe websites. Alternatively, you could work for a food brand and create treats using that company's product.

All of these involve cooking and working with recipes, but none of them are actually chef or manager positions (unless, of course, you get promoted to the version of manager that these companies have). And don't forget altitude -- when companies develop recipes or instructions, they often need a high-altitude version. So if you live at a higher altitude, you can still be involved in a field that often caters to sea-level cooks.

Appliance Reviewer

This is actually a thing -- companies need people to test out kitchen appliances, ranging from full-size refrigerators to handheld mixers. Is there a new version of a garlic peeler that the makers say is faster than other garlic peelers? You get to test that to see if the peeler is worth buying. Does your company want to test a new oven?

You get to test that and see how the oven fares. Jobs like these often exist at consumer-rights companies or lifestyle magazines that want to recommend the best buys to their readers.

"Food"-Mongers

Cheesemongers, fishmongers, all these "-mongers" need food knowledge -- just highly specialized. If you like a particular type of food that requires extensive knowledge, you can look into a monger-type job. Cheese and fish usually use that title, but you can find food-specific jobs at state commissions, like a state strawberry commission in a state known for its strawberry harvests, or at stores that want to search out new products using that food.

What Do All these Careers Have in Common?

Do you know what all these careers have in common? A thorough knowledge of food and how cooking works. Yes, some also rely on other skills like photography. However, you need to know why tasty food looks tasty to people. Also, why other food items have to be substituted in photo shoots (like mashed potatoes for ice cream because the lights in the studio make ice cream melt quickly) in order to get that one food photo that will make readers crave the food.

Ready to Take Your First Step With Formal Education?

If you are interested in working in the culinary arts field and want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts, consider ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia. With accelerated classes and a year-round schedule, you could graduate sooner and start looking for work faster. For more information on this exciting opportunity, connect with a friendly admissions advisor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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Gainful Employment Information – Culinary Arts - Associate’s

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