Also called: Fermentation Specialist, Culinary Fermentation Lead
Makes the house misos, kimchis, hot sauces, vinegars and koji seasonings that give a restaurant or food company its signature flavors.
She checks a row of jars holding a year-old pumpkin miso, a fizzy pear kombucha and garlic honey. She tastes each, records the pH, and moves a koji batch to a warmer room. Then she meets the head chef to plan a new mushroom garum for the fall menu.
Estimate; few dedicated positions.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. Culinary school or kitchen experience; fermentation is mostly learned on the job.
Ways in: Trade school, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Culinary Arts, Food Science, Microbiology.
Growing faster than average. Fermentation programs are spreading in top restaurants and food startups.
Low risk for 10 years. pH meters and sensors help, but tasting and judging live ferments stays human.
Classes: Chemistry, Biology, Culinary arts.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.