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Food

That Nutella Taster Job Isn't Actually as Awesome as It Sounds

For one, you don't actually get to eat any Nutella.

This article originally appeared on MUNCHIES Switzerland.

The perfect job doesn’t exist. There will always be something to gripe about, even if it’s just the fact that we have to pursue a career to all to be accepted in society. But because conventional jobs don’t usually fall into the category of “dream job” anyway, we’re diving into some unconventional occupations. For some, it might be taking care of food, lodging and, ultimately, the fates of stray cats on a Greek island. For others, it’s working at the Nutella factory.

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The ad for a job as a Nutella tester recently made its way around the world. A number of media outlets have been reporting on the position, which is apparently pretty sugarcoated. The thought of being a company employee tasked with the responsibility, in the Italian town of Alba, of ensuring that our toast always only sees the very best of our favorite hazelnut spread may sound dreamy. But not everything is as shiny as the foil seal on an unopened jar of Nutella.

There's something rather fishy about the job description. And although we don't want to be a bunch of party poopers, we feel we must in order to ground all of you in the facts.

You won't eat a dribble of Nutella

What can we say? The Nutella tester being sought isn’t, in fact, one at all. According to the official job post, they’re looking for so-called sensory judges who want to “learn how to taste cacao, chopped hazelnuts, and other semi-finished sweets.” Sure, all these ingredients wind up in a jar of Nutella, but you won’t be tasting any sweet spread.

Don't hope for job security

During a paid three-month training course, you’ll be made a sensory judge and learn how to smell and taste correctly. The crash course will also give you the ability to “capture in words what you perceive during the tasting of half-finished products.” Only those who are deemed eligible will receive a work contract. Everyone else will be left staring into the abysmal depths of an empty Nutella jar.

The job is in Italy—and in Italian

To be a sensory judge for the Nutella manufacturer Ferrero, there’s no way of avoiding a relocation to Alba, Italy. The town is located in Italy's Piedmont region, surrounded by famous vineyards and fruit orchards. Aside from Ferrero, Alba’s industry is made up of only one other company that happens to be the largest manufacturer of PVC flooring and balls. If that doesn’t sound like a cool, urban city where you’d want to live, we don’t know what does. That Italian is spoken here is simply an exclusionary criterion for anyone whose language skills are enough for only ordering pizza. For anyone who’s mastered the language: per favore continua a leggere.

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You won't get rich doing it

Earning enough for sustenance beyond “semi-finished sweets” will be financially difficult as a Nutella tester. The part-time job, should you in fact be offered it after the course, is limited to only two days a week at a whopping two hours a day. A legally binding minimum wage hasn’t been set in Italy, where the average income people earn lies around €2,585 (or $2,934 USD) a month. For a 40-hour week, that theoretically comes out to roughly €16 (or $18.16 USD) per hour. So, for four hours of work, around €256 (or $296.62 USD) would wind up in your bank account each week.

You'd be supporting the palm oil industry

Why working there won’t necessarily make life easier for us on this planet is something we've summed up nicely here, here, and here.

Sorry to crush your dreams, but we’re sure the next seemingly perfect job will come rolling around soon.