13 Best Paying Jobs in Specialty Foods in 2023

Now when very few of us can stay at home baking cookies or cakes, whip up preserves and pickles, or stand over a boiling pot of sauce for hours, we would instead fill up our food reserves from supermarket shelves.

So if you have that chili, brownie, spaghetti sauce, or champagne jelly recipe, then you should consider some of the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023.

Specialty foods range from salad dressings to flavored bread and everything in between. With tasty recipes, strong communication, customer service abilities, creativity, and teamwork, several positions are available in the food business, from entry-level to senior positions.

You can select a career path that fits your professional interests and aspirations by studying the opportunities offered in this field. This post highlights the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023.

Is a Career in Specialty Foods a good path?

Yes, please. A career in specialty foods is a good path, especially if you enjoy cooking and serving food. You may also consider working in this industry to develop and advance your culinary skills.

Consider your professional interests and goals to determine if this industry is a good fit for you. It would help if you also thought about building relevant abilities for your desired position.

The food sector offers many options for on-the-job training, and most don’t demand a lot of education to excel.

Best Paying Jobs in Specialty Foods in 2023

Here are the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023 for you to consider:

  • Baker
  • Banquet cook
  • Cake decorator
  • Food taster
  • Pastry cook
  • Sommelier
  • Food manager
  • Line cook
  • Restaurant manager
  • Food Technologist
  • Executive Chef
  • Prep Cook
  • Butcher

1. Baker

Average salary: $16.05 per hour

This is one of the paying jobs in specialty foods. Bakers employ honed math and detail-oriented skills to mix items according to a recipe to make pies, cakes, bread, and pastries.

They can work in many places, including cafes, grocery stores, bakeries, inns, resorts, hotels, and schools. Besides mixing and icing, they order and inspect the quality of the baking materials, clean the baking equipment, and handle customer orders.

Some may handle customer service duties like accepting orders and completing client orders.

To become a baker, you may enroll in culinary or vocational programs. Skilled bakers, over time, garner years of experience in a kitchen at home or start as apprentices or bakery assistants.

2. Banquet Cook

Average salary: $17.49 per hour

Banquet cooks can handle the specialty foods in a banquet. They prepare the food for festivals, large events, and weddings. Typically, banquet cooks oversee the culinary crew and create the food menu for banquets. They also buy the ingredients for the specialty foods.

As one of the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023, a renowned banquet cook, you should have real-world experience in culinary and food management. You may also get a culinary arts associate degree as a plus.

Read also: 15 Best Paying Jobs in Food Distributors in 2023

3. Cake Decorator

Average salary: $16.12 per hour

A cake decorator creates beautiful cake and pastry designs, patterns, and colors. They often employ tools, including piping bags and spatulas, to apply icing, flowers, characters, symbols, and printed graphics to customer orders to make them unique.

Sometimes, decorators may specialize in a particular type of cake for special occasions—like weddings and holidays.

They ensure that all cakes have the same appearance and maintain quality with quality control measures.

These experts often operate in boutique bakeries or supermarkets or decorate cakes from the comfort of their homes. Cake decorators are some of the best paid jobs in specialty foods.

To work as a cake decorator, you must have high school graduation or GED. You can enroll in cake baking and decorating classes to obtain a culinary arts certificate.

You can also start as a trainee in a café, bakery, restaurant, hotel, or catering business to achieve the perfect symmetry in the cakes and pastries.

4. Food Taster

Average salary: $19.20 per hour

After the cook does the cooking, the food tasters taste the food to check the meal qualities, including flavor, oil content, moisture content, and solubility. They also smell some samples to check that the food is fresh.

Food tasters often use tools like spectro-thermometers, stereomicroscopes, ovens, and more to aid their duties.

These industry experts must undergo palate training at culinary schools to build a keen sense of smell and instruction. Palate training is the skill to recognize various flavors in food.

5. Pastry Cook

Average salary: $18.40 per hour

Pastry cook, also known as “pastry chef,” creates sweet and savory pastries like pies, bread, cakes, and croissants. While their duties include producing menus, adjusting recipes, and completing customer orders, some pastry cooks may focus on specific bread-making techniques.

They often work at restaurants, cafes, hotels, resorts, specialty bakeries, and grocery store bakeries.

Because they are one of the best paying jobs in specialty foods, you may need a culinary arts certificate to learn how to produce pastries and other baked foods.

You can also obtain a culinary arts bachelor’s or associate degree. Either way, you can start gaining experience as a trainee in a close bakery.

6. Sommelier

Average salary: $16.51 per hour

A sommelier also called a “wine steward,” makes custom wine suggestions to customers.

They make these informed recommendations from their extensive knowledge of how various wines are produced and matured, which varieties and ages go best with specific cuisines, and which taste profiles go best with which ingredients, spices, and textures.

To develop this comprehensive wine list, they will also work with the managers and owners of the restaurants. Sommeliers also employ their expertise in customer service to converse with guests to suggest the perfect wine for their meal.

Sommeliers must graduate from high school and obtain certifications. Although this is one of the best paying jobs in specialty foods, you can start gaining experience working as a server, barback, or bartender.

Read also: 20 Best Remote Jobs That Pay Well | 2023

7. Food Manager

Average salary: $22.05 per hour

Food managers, also known as food service managers, oversee the day-to-day specialty food operations in businesses that make and serve food and drinks. They supervise the work of the kitchen staff, inspire them, and make sure that customers are happy.

As one of the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023, food managers require a high school diploma or GED. Most employers seek applicants with extensive job histories in the culinary industry.

You can also get a certification in food service from a culinary or vocational school. Alternatively, you can pursue an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in management.

8. Line Cook

Average salary: $16.56 per hour

Line cooks help sous chefs and chefs ensure dishes are of high quality by chopping up ingredients. They usually work with food stations associated with a particular cooking method, like grilling or roasting, or the kind of food prepared, like sauces or seafood.

Line cooks constantly display time management, active listening, and organizational skills to help chefs and other kitchen staff prepare quality dishes.

Line cooks are one of the best paying jobs in specialty foods that can work in fine dining and chain restaurants, among other restaurant environments.

You will require a high school diploma or GED and culinary arts certificate and relevant job experience to get a job as a line cook.

9. Restaurant Manager

Average salary: $49,301 per year

Restaurant managers oversee all staff members at a restaurant, including the cooks and servers. They often work with the restaurant owner, head chef, sous chef, and other specialist cooking pros to create menus, choose daily specials, and create a wine and spirits list for customers.

Restaurant managers also ensure that all employees follow food safety regulations, that meals are up to the highest standard, and that customers enjoy their dining experiences.

As one of the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023, they often work at hotels, exclusive restaurants, and chain restaurants.

There are also some jobs for a specialty food enthusiast in the food industry, including:

10. Food Technologist

Average salary: $16.22 per hour

A food technologist develops and manages the food-making process. They research the food’s chemical, biological, and physical characteristics.

Food technologists focus on ingredients and technological advancements to create brand-new recipes and culinary items, such as fat-free foods, ensuring food items are both safe and compliant.

Food technologists should get at least a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, or food science. This is one of the best paying jobs in the food industry in 2023.

11. Executive Chef

Average salary: $64,081 per year

The executive chef, also known as “head chef” or “chef manager,” is in charge of the everyday operations and meals in the kitchen at their eateries, gatherings, hotels, resorts, or private homes.

They oversee the kitchen personnel and appliances, design menus, cook meals, and establish standards for food quality.

Besides their remarkable skills in time management and organization, executive chefs utilize problem-solving techniques to handle any challenges in the kitchen.

These experts can work in places like fast food joints, exclusive dining establishments, hotels, resorts, and private homes.

Typically, as one of the best paying jobs in the food industry, executive chefs require formal education and training in the culinary arts.

So, you should obtain a bachelor’s or associate’s degree. You’d also need years of experience as a chef exhibiting strong cooking mastery, leadership, and managerial skills.

12. Prep Cook

Average salary: $16.24 per hour

A prep cook prepares the cooking materials and ingredients for the chefs to prepare meals more quickly. They wash and chop ingredients like mushrooms, potatoes, vegetables, and meat, arrange tools, or prepare salad dressings.

They also prep and maintain kitchen devices in various kitchen environments, such as classy or family-style eateries, franchise restaurants, and diners.

After the culinary arts training programs, prep cooks start at entry-level positions in restaurants and other food service organizations. And they are some of the best paid in the food industry.

13. Butcher

Average salary: $18.04 per hour

Butchers chop meat, fish, and fowls, inspect orders, and weigh, price, and package goods. These food industry experts often work in grocers, meat markets, and butcher shops.

With their unrivaled knowledge about the meats they cut for consumers, butchers could offer informed advice.

Butchers need at least a high school diploma or GED. But most of them finish an apprenticeship in meat-cutting at a butcher shop and afterwards proceed to get a trade certification from the supervisory body in the province.

Read also: 20 Dream Jobs That Are Not in Your Mind but Really Exist | 2023(

FAQs on the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023

Who are the customers for specialty foods?

As one who makes specialty foods, your clients may include gourmet grocers, health- and natural-foods stores, department stores, eateries, coffee cafes, and gift shops. In addition, you can sell through mail orders, farmers’ markets, arts and crafts fairs, and flea markets.

How do I get a job in the food industry?

Here are ten tips for getting a job in the food industry:
1. Find available positions
2. Research the Company
3. Find internships with a company or organization
4. Leverage your network and connection
5. Find additional certifications to improve your knowledge
6. Groom and showcase your tech skills
7. Learn new languages
8. Use social media tools
9. Visit sites for jobs
10. Mention special projects, interests, or professional affiliations

What are the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023?

These are the best paying jobs in specialty foods:
1. Baker
2. Banquet cook
3. Cake decorator
4. Food taster
5. Pastry cook
6. Sommelier
7. Food manager
8. Line cook
9. Restaurant manager

What’s are some specialty food examples?

Specialty foods include barbecue sauce, baked goods, jams and jellies, dairy products, and candy.

Conclusion

While the specialty food industry is demanding and requires a remarkable commitment, dedication, and attention to detail, it is rewarding and promises job security and a steady growth path.

You can go through our list of the best paying jobs in specialty foods in 2023, choose a career and make a living from your hobby.

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