Best Ways to Get Paid to Eat - Taste Tester Jobs That Paying well

There are several ways to make money these days but many can be quite boring and stressful. Imagine doing something exciting and getting paid? Yes, I mean getting paid for doing something you love. Something as thrilling as tasting and eating delicious foods. Isn't that amazing? Certainly.

Why Geting Paid to Eat as a Taste Tester ?

The opportunities of making money online are endless and that's also applicable offline. To taste food, you physical presence will be needed. So this is more of an offline job but looking out for the paid opportunities has to be done online.

The internet is a powerful tool to get useful information and if properly explored, you can figure out amazing ways to get paid to eat. You can put your taste buds to work and enjoy extra benefits such as getting cash reward in return.

As a food lover, the opportunity is there for you to not only enjoy the taste of a food but also earn money while you're at it. In this guide, we will introduce you to best ways you can get paid to taste or eat all kinds of food ranging from sea foods to fast foods or street foods. Even special meals or continental dishes prepared by the best chefs around the world.

Reliable Ways to Get Paid to Eat

Here are the best taste testers' job available in the year 2023;

Earn Money by Eating Competitively

A good way to make extra income as a food lover is by eating competitively.

Just like any other sport, individuals can participate in food eating competitions and get prize reward when they come out victorious. Competitive eating is very appealing but it is not for the faint hearted. It involves learning how to eat different foods with speed and also requires have a deep tommy. It comes with its own risk such as choking and weight gain but the huge prize reward is tempting.

Join Mystery Shopper Agencies

Several establishments cooks series of delicacies for people's satisfaction such as restaurants, cafeterias, bars, fast food joints, or hotels. Due to the high influx of customers, they constantly ensure the standards of their meals does not drop. A good way to check this is by employing food tasters to have a taste of their foods and access their chefs or other employees at the establishment.

To stand out in the food business, you have to offer quality service at all times.

Owners of food establishments use the service of secret shopper agencies to access the quality of service rendered at their establishments. When they hire a credible mystery shopper agency, the agency sends in a "secret shopper" to go order for food at the restaurant, make inquiries or perform other tasks.

How a Mystery Shopper Agency Works :

This is an agency dedicated to test secretly the quality of customer service at automotive and hospitality industries. They hire people willing to make use of their time and expertise to patronize a company's service and in return pay them for their honest feedback. You can earn a lot of money as a mystery shopper.

If you are hired as a mystery shopper for a restaurant or cafeteria, you will be required to visit the restaurant and order for food while you take pictures or videos and also answer survey questions about the quality of service.

The mystery shopper agency you work under will then draft out a report and attach receipts of your patronage then send to the food business owner. When that process has been completed, you will now get paid. The pay varies based on the agency you join and the type of food business establishment you're assigned. You will get free foods, free drinks, free hospitality and extra cash for your efforts.

Examples of Mystery Shopper Agencies :

• Secret Shopper
• Guest Check
• Best Mark
• Market Force
• Mystery Dining

Work as a Food Tester at Sensory Testing Firms

Sensory testing companies are dedicated to carrying out food based studies. This is quite similar to doing a market research with the aim of generating results that will help improve a business and attract consumers of the products to buy.

As a food tester working at a sensory testing firm, you will be required to carry out food based tests using special odor and taste recognition skills. It's important to have no food allergies as you'll be expected to test different kind of foods. Sensory testing firms offers a good way to earn extra income at your free time.

How Sensory Testing Firms Works :

This is similar to carrying out market research for manufacturing companies. These firms conduct market surveys for food establishments by employing food tasters to evaluate food products and giving a feedback on the food taste, smell, texture and even the appearance. These taste studies requires tasting meals, drinks, snacks, pasta, meats, soups or ice creams and giving a feedback.

You can earn an average of $15.0 - $20.0 USD per sessions at a food tasting lab or panel. You can participate in as many sessions as you want depending on the firm.

Examples of Sensory Testing Firms :

• The National Food Lab
• Contract Testing Incorporated
• Consumer Product Testing Centre

Earn With Cashback Apps When You Eat Out

This is a different approach to getting paid to eat. You can get cashback for eating at restaurants the same way you get cashback on travel and shopping purchases.

You can save money when you use cashback cards anytime you eat out and there are apps that will point you to the best restaurants that offers such service.

Best Apps That Offers Cashback for Eating Out :

iDine | Gambeal | Mogl | Seated | … and many more.

Review Food Establishments as a Food Critic

One of the best ways to make extra income is by working as a food critic. There are several food critic job opportunities on the internet but it's important to have a good knowledge of the food industry if you want to stand out as a food critic.

Food critics are expected to taste and review foods served at food establishments such as restaurants, cafeterias and hotels. You can either work as a freelance food critic or as a professional food critic. To earn big, you are expected to have degree in Languages, Journalism, Food Technology or other food related courses.

Reviewing food establishments like restaurants also involves writing articles for potential customers to see before they decide to patronize.

Responsibilities of a Food Critic :

• Food critics are required to test foods and pass their judgments.
• Food critics offer comments based on atmosphere and service rendered.
• Food critics write articles on food qualities served at restaurants.

How Do Food Critics Earn :

Food critics earn money by dropping reviews for various establishments such as;

• Restaurants and Hotels.
• Food Magazines and Newspapers.
• Food Websites and Travel Blogs.

An average food critic earns $40,000 to $100,000 USD per year.

Get Paid to Eat on Camera

You can get paid from "mukbang" challenge which is derived from a Korean word for eating and broadcasting at the same time. This involves interacting with an online audience while they watch you as you eat various meals. This concept is a proven way of earning money and a good example is "

If you're interested in this concept, you can create a livestream channel on YouTube Live or Instagram Live and earn money from views on your broadcasts.

Get Paid as a Professional Food Taster

You can work part time or full time as a professional food taster. Sensory and analytics skills is required if you want to work as a professional in this field.

You can earn $20.0 to $30.0 USD per hour if you work part-time and even more if you work full-time. It is one of the best ways to get paid to eat as you can earn as high as $50,000 USD per year if you taste food professionally.

Finally, you will be expected to undergo specific taste and odor recognition tests before any company can employ you to test food for them. Just like any other profession, your expertise is needed. It is not negotiable.

Conclusion

The world is certainly becoming a better place due to the numerous opportunities available to earn a living. Gone are the days when you're expected to have a professional skill or a degree before you can make monthly income. These days, people get paid for doing nothing. It's strange but it's the truth.

People now get paid to do what they love in the comfort of their homes.

A good example is;

• Getting paid to play videos games
• Getting paid to watch movies online
• Getting paid to test products and apps

You can then add another one to that list - getting paid to eat . Interesting!

Working as a professional in the food industry involves becoming a chef or a food scientist but you can make money as a freelancer who gets paid just to eat food.

Do you know about other ways to get paid to eat? Let us know in the comment section and don't hesitate to try out the ways we've pointed out in our guide.