Get paid to eat – the world’s strangest food jobs (2024)

Eating for a living

It’s the dream to get paid for doing what you love, and if you have a passion for food then being paid to eat could be that dream come true. Looking for a job you can get your teeth stuck into? Read on. We've rounded up some of the weirdest and most wonderful food jobs out there, from wine-tasting "Vinternships" to restaurant mystery shopper roles.

Majestic Wines "Vintern"

They say that wine always tastes better on holiday – and this year, Majestic Wines are putting the theory to the test by offering one would-be wine sampler the opportunity to become a jet-setting "Vintern". The lucky applicant will bepaid the equivalent of a £52,000 ($63,118) annual salary to travel the sunny Iberian Peninsula tasting Spanish and Portuguese wines in the countries they were made. Upon their return home, they'll be sent a case of wine to try. But the question is: which will taste better?

Frozen food taster

Some frozen food companies pay people to try their food to make sure it is consumer-ready. It’s an easy job but it can come with some downfalls. One frozen food taster had to eat frozen fried foods for four hours a day, three days a week over the course of eight months. The salt from the food caused huge blisters inside their mouth. Food tasters like this can earn from $15 (£12) an hour.

Food critic

It can be a tough job to get into but in order to be a food critic you need a refined palate. You also need to have a way with words as it involves writing about your experience and what your taste buds uncover. You also need to be convincing and trusted by those who read your work. In 2013 it was reported that food critics could earn up to $88,000 (£70,552) annually.

Artisan food buyer

Knowing the best coffee beans and what brand of Italian olive oil pairs best with the finest pasta are some of the pre-requisites to be an artisan food buyer. It’s the type of job where you deal with small specialty shops, local growers, and overseas companies discussing things like the flavor of a well-aged wine. The perks of the job are that you get to try all the best foods to make sure they’re up to standard. Salaries can range from $29,000-$90,000 (£23,275-£72,260).

Webcam eater

A strange job title but yes, people actually get paid for eating food and recording it on their webcam to post online for all to see. Very popular in South Korea, people are actually quitting their day jobs to sit in front of a webcam every day and eat. And why not when they’re managing to make substantial money for doing so. In Korea there’s a niche called mukbang where people like Park Seo-yeon eat large meals while millions watch online. In 2014 Park Seo-yeon earned $9,000 (£7,229) a month.

Competitive eater

There are many different eating competitions and some pay big bucks to the winner. From pizza, wings and pulled pork to sausages, cake and candy – there’s a contest for eating just about anything. In 2014, Joey Chestnut won the male division of an eating competition in New York by eating a whopping 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes, while Miki Sudo won the women’s division after eating 34 hot dogs in 10 minutes. It’s not a full-time job but some contests pay up to $40,000 (£32,131).

Food blogger

Most food blogs started off as a hobby and passion that grew into a way to make money. Some bloggers even quit their full-time jobs to pursue it as a career, with the most popular earning an annual income of $150,000 (£120,192) or more by attracting the attention of big-name sponsors. Successful food bloggers generally have other marketable products such as cookbooks and other merchandise that brings in money too.

Food Instagrammer

Not your average job but taking photos of your food and posting them to social network Instagram can get you an income. It’s not a sure-fire way to make money but those who manage to bring in cash do so from sponsors and advertisers. They can get paid various amounts but also get free food from companies and restaurants. You’ll need to attract a big following though.

YouTuber

This new-age career has got people from all over the world changing their professions to become full-time YouTubers and some of them are making a lot of money. Among the countless videos on the site are people who get paid to eat and promote a company’s food product online. It’s free marketing for the company and they generally offer the YouTuber’s viewers a deal too. Companies like Naturebox sponsor and pay YouTubers like ShayCarl (pictured) for videos promoting their products.

Restaurant mystery shopper

Although the pay isn’t the greatest, being a mystery shopper is more about eating free food from some of the best restaurants in town. Fast food joints and restaurants use secret shopper companies to test their service, including the friendliness of staff, how long it takes to get food on the table and how clean it is. Pay rates differ according to companies and mystery shopping jobs you’re sent to but you can earn from $7 (£5) upwards and you’re generally reimbursed for any other expenses.

Chocolate taster

Being a chocolate taster is a chocoholic’s dream because it involves just what the job title suggests, eating different types of chocolate and getting paid for it. Professional chocolate taster Orietta Gianjorio is an official food taster, specializing in chocolate. Even better, you can get paid anywhere from $35,000-$65,000 (£28,045-£52,104) a year.

Bacon critic

Getting paid to eat your favorite breakfast meat is actually a job. The breakfast food website Extra Crispy advertised a bacon critic position in 2016 and the role basically involved three months of researching, writing and, most importantly, eating bacon as their team expert.

White House food taster

Personal food tasters are only really reserved for those so important they need someone to ensure their food hasn’t been tampered with. They’re basically the guinea pig for political figures and business tycoons. And although the Secret Service won’t confirm it, during Barack Obama’s presidency it was reported that there was a White House food taster who would taste his food before he ate it and earned about $95,000 (£76,140) a year.

Eating officer

Weight Watchers has an official eating officer on the payroll who tests the company’s healthy approach to managing weight without having to totally give up a social life. Basically being paid to eat. While only part-time, they get paid to eat the food that so many spend their money on in the hope of losing excess weight and gaining a healthy lifestyle. It’s unclear as to how much they get paid but they’re doing the program for free and getting an income.

Fried chicken taster

This high-paying job is also highly calorific because it’s all about eating fried chicken. This job was posted on odd-job app Airtasker and offered to pay $374 (£300) to the chosen candidate. It involved reviewing 10 fried chicken restaurants and their products.

Michelin inspector

This role involves working for the Michelin guide. The role of the Michelin hotel and restaurant inspector is to anonymously review restaurants for an impartial assessment of their food and service. Just as private as their identities, the salaries for a Michelin inspector are pretty hidden but an average inspector is rumored to earn about $31,165 (£24,988).

Couch potato

For an annual wage of about $29,932 (£24,000), Proactol Ltd employed someone to be a couch potato by doing nothing and eating more. The person needed to have a big appetite and be happy to eat 400 extra calories every day in high-fat meals such as chips and pizzas. It was all in the name of testing the fat-binding properties of a weightloss product.

Head of food at Pizza Hut

If you do what you love it won’t feel like work, and that’s certainly the case for Pizza Hut’s position of head of food for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships. The role offered $50,000 (£40,095) to someone who loves travel, pizza and college sports for the 2016-17 season of the championships. The applicant tours the championship around the USA, sharing their journey and showcasing how Pizza Hut is fueling fans. Not a bad gig.

Taco taster

As a culinary challenge, journalist Mike Sutter has taken on the task of tasting and testing tacos. Throughout 2017, he will taste a different taco every single day of the week. His diet will encompass breakfast wraps to soft meat-filled tortillas and everything in-between. Sutter is no stranger to a taco challenge, having wolfed down 1,600 tacos over 365 days in 2015. While not his sole workplace responsibility, Sutter still technically gets paid to eat tacos.

Dog food taster

You read right, there’s such a thing as a dog food taster and if you have the nose, and stomach, for it then you’ll be paid adequately. The food is organic and made with all-natural ingredients, but it is still dog food you’re eating. What makes this worthwhile is that you can earn from $55,000-$65,000 (£44,093-£52,117). The job is to critique the quality, texture and taste to ensure man’s best friend gets the best.

Dinner host

If you have decent cooking skills and enjoy hosting dinner parties then you can connect with travelers and invite them to dinner for a fixed fee. Services like Eat With help connect travelers with potential hosts. Hosts can set a rate per guest, choose the time and dates when they’re available to throw a feast and indicate the maximum amount of people invited.

Potato chip taster

Savory snack lovers in the United Kingdom applied for a job in 2017 right down their alley: potato chip (or crisps, as the locals call them) taster. The job involves getting paid to eat and try new flavours of Walkers and Doritos chips at PepsiCo. The role pays about $10 (£8) an hour.

Honey eater

In the name of Type 2 diabetes research you can get paid $517 (£413) to eat manuka honey. The study is being run in 2017 and participants get paid at the completion of the study at a Cork-based company in Ireland. Participants have to be non-diabetic people aged 20-70 years old, concerned about carrying excess fat in the abdominal region, and who have a family history of Type 2 diabetes. They must eat regular dollops of the honey.