r/financialindependence • u/fidgit86 • 9d ago

What do you do that you earn six figures?

It seems like a lot of people make a lot of money and it seems like I’m missing out on something. So those of you that do, whats your occupation that pays so well?

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141

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Flavor Chemist

40

u/Maeberry2007 9d ago

Do you pursue the noble goal of creating banana flavored candy that ACTUALLY tastes like bananas?

99

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Nah. Wouldn't sell. Contrary to what you might think, you dont actually like true-to-banana taste. At least the market doesn't. Many many authentic banana flavors have been developed, but they always get beat in the market by isoamyl acetate runts :)

I feel your pain.

20

u/Maeberry2007 9d ago

I like that you knew I was talking about Runts and not Laffy Taffy or something haha

20

u/YouAreAPyrate 9d ago

Runts taste like learning to makeout in a movie theater to me, and will always hold a special place in my...tasebuds. But fuck, they don't taste anything like what I want a banana to taste like.

9

u/ProtegeAA 9d ago

I for one totally prefer fake banana flavor

Sorry everyone

9

u/YouAreAPyrate 9d ago

Give me that fake-ass Laffy Taffy banana flavor until my tongue is numb, idgaf.

2

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

See, this is why we can't have nice things

5

u/geographical_data 9d ago

I synthesized isoamyl acetate for my organics final, no value there just thought it was cool that's the first time I've seen the compound mentioned in 2 years

3

u/greybeard_arr 9d ago

I instinctively downvoted you because I was irritated to read that. But, I changed it when I stopped to realize you’re just the messenger.

Mind if I ask what a day in the life of a flavor chemist is like?

9

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

It's basically project specific flavor design. Customer wants a new flavor for their beverage line. I make one, taste, tweak, and repeat until it is good. Lots of sensory science and analytical chemistry sprinkled in along the way.

3

u/TheOftenNakedJason 9d ago

I read somewhere that banana flavored candy actually tastes more like the cultivar of banana prior to the Cavendish (gross Michael or something?), But that style suffered from the fungal outbreak in the 50s and caused banana growers to switch to a different kind of banana, which tastes different.

I don't know if it's true or not, just my internet fact about banana flavors that I perpetuate without much thought or fact checking.

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

It is true! However, the flavor also was developed at a time when analytical chemistry wasn't as sophisticated, and flavor chemicals weren't as widely available. Isoamyl acetate is the characterizing component of that cultivar, but there are hundreds of other components that contribute to the flavor.

Isoamyl acetate was easy to synthesize, cheap, and people liked it in the confections it was used in. So it stuck.

It's the same reason why fake cherry flavors all taste like cough syrup. Benzaldehyde is in that class of "old fashioned" flavor components that were used before more advanced flavor development tools were used.

3

u/TheOftenNakedJason 9d ago

So interesting! Thank you for responding. It's funny how we like what we like because we liked it before, even if we should like something new more, sometimes the familiar wins out.

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Bingo! It's often the bane of my existence. I've developed hundreds of punch profiles, but if it doesn't taste like Hawaiian punch, the customer doesn't want it...

1

u/TheOftenNakedJason 9d ago

Maybe with everyone losing their sense of taste and smell they'll have a fresh palette for your creations ;)

4

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

God I hope so. Guava blackberry punch coming to a store near you!!!

2

u/I_no_know 9d ago

There are some Asian bananas that are absolutely incredible (the short ones that have to be black), and similar to the old bananas, from what I understand.

2

u/KPayAudio 9d ago

How does Bang create such a wide variety of flavors without sugar?

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u/pustabusta 9d ago

There are certain chemicals like maltol that naturally impart a sweet smell so retro nasally you perceive sweet

2

u/KPayAudio 9d ago

Fascinating thank you

3

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Bang uses a ton of high-impact artificial sweeteners. Sucralose is their sweetener of choice, I believe.

The flavors are just any old beverage flavors. Although in my opinion they are overly flavored and overly sweet.

1

u/KPayAudio 9d ago

Some them are sure, like that cotton candy one. But I am just impressed at the range of flavors, artificial sweeteners would probably do it. Thanks!

2

u/sully9088 9d ago

I thought the banana flavor we get is actually based on a certain type of banana that most people can't get in grocery stores. No?

3

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Yup, see my response in the other comment!

1

u/zen_nudist [34, 70% SR] 9d ago

Tell us more!

1

u/I_no_know 9d ago

What’s your favorite chemical?

5

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

I like smokey, vanilla, bourbon like chemicals. And stinky ones. Guaiacol, Syringol, and Diallyl Disulfide are some of my favorite

1

u/ca_exhibition 9d ago

Damn, I'd like to learn more details about what you do.

1

u/spacegirl3 9d ago

I fucking love isoamyl acetate flavor, and if I had a time machine, my first stop would be to get some old school bananas.

1

u/bardiche-like-thing 9d ago

Hi, why does green candy always taste like grass?

6

u/Bredwh 9d ago

I've read banana flavored candy tastes like how bananas used to taste. Then there was a disease that killed off most of that banana species so they had to switch to the kind we know now which is less flavorful but lasts longer in shipping, etc.

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u/borgasmorg7 9d ago

There are still varieties of bananas that taste somewhat similar to the artificial flavor. Bananas from the Canary Islands, for example.

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u/Bredwh 9d ago

Yeah the Gros Michel can still be found but is rare.

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u/mertality 9d ago

Source?

3

u/eda111 9d ago

I don’t know about the candy part but it’s true disease killed off our last common banana and it’s happening to our current one again

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u/Bredwh 9d ago

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/why-dont-banana-candies-taste-like-real-bananas/

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u/mertality 9d ago

This is really cool. And in the article they use the term “top banana” to refer to the best variety of banana at the time. This is also the name of Jelly Belly’s banana flavored jelly bean.

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u/Shamewizard1995 9d ago

Here’s another fun fact: the reason bananas were so vulnerable to the disease is because all banana plants of a species are clones. Since bananas don’t have seeds, there is no way for them to reproduce so you have to spread cuttings that are genetically identical. Same for some other fruits too, it’s very likely we will see another common flavor disappear one day

1

u/Bredwh 8d ago

The current bananas are already dying from another disease so we may lose them too.

14

u/kfccoleslawe 9d ago

How’s the commute? To Flavortown.

4

u/danesgod Bay Area, $1 9d ago

What's your favorite terpene?

10

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Myrcene. Characterizing compound of weed and hops, two of my favorite things ;)

5

u/spacegirl3 9d ago

Threads like this are why I want to change my major every six months.

6

u/danesgod Bay Area, $1 9d ago

Funny, I tried to use an old bottle of myrcene once and it was a solid (polymerized).

I've always been partial to humulene, I'm a sucker for macrocycles.

7

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Oooh, talk dirty to me

2

u/StalkingBanana 9d ago

Oh I love this thread

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u/HammerTh_1701 9d ago

Chemistry dirty talk XD

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u/cjrand1122 9d ago

Haha I got scouted to be a flavor chemist for an extraction and manufacturing facility!

I love weed, but after a quick tour of the faculties I knew there were only two outcomes: I would either hate weed or it would become my life. Neither seemed very attractive to me.

But I did enjoy the sampler goodie they gave me on the way out :)

1

u/petethefreeze 9d ago

Linalool

1

u/pustabusta 9d ago

I love linalool, so diverse

6

u/Mountain_Calla_Lily 9d ago

What kind of qualifications do you need to become a flavor chemist?

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u/Daltezzy 9d ago

Answer the question bro lol

5

u/pustabusta 9d ago

I am doing a masters in flavor chemistry right now. Our lab is focused on compositional studies of natural foods. We do also do sensory studies.

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u/StalkingBanana 9d ago

I did a MSc in Food Technology, specialised in Food Chemistry. I know that large flavour houses (In Europe e.g. Symrise, Givaudan, IFF) sometimes offer traineeships to Food Tech / Chem graduates to become a Flavourist. These people get intense training and can recognise up to 400 flavours!!

This career path looked fun to me, eventually I chose an analytical chemistry focused career. Now I am working as a teacher (definitely not making the six figures lol).

3

u/Specialist-Affect-19 9d ago

For pizza?

8

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

I fuckin wish. Although I did flavor a sausage with a maple flavor that was used on a frozen breakfast pizza. That was pretty rad.

3

u/Specialist-Affect-19 9d ago

That's cool. I hope you get to work on pizzas someday!

3

u/Public_Interview_803 9d ago

Hi, I have a BA in Chemistry, just graduated. can you recommend anything I can do?

1

u/peepswithdeeeps 9d ago

Aaaeey same here dude

3

u/ohsinboi 9d ago

Had a really cool idea for a business that involved flavor chemistry but I have no idea how you even get started doing something like that. It sounds like a cool job

2

u/LoyalRespect 9d ago

What did you major in? What does your masters or whatever degrees you went for say as your major? Sounds like an interesting field

4

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

I have a B.S. and an M.S. in food science with a minor in organic chemistry. My masters program was also focused on flavor science.

1

u/LoyalRespect 8d ago

Thank you

2

u/gin-casual 9d ago

In what country? As a food scientist I know the flavour chemists at our lab are not on 6 figures. £ or equivalent in $.

3

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

USA. 6 figures is typical for a certified flavor chemist, and senior/master level flavorists are in the high 200s-300s

2

u/gin-casual 9d ago

Man I should move to the us. Science does not pay that well In the Uk. The most I know anyone on is about the equivalent of $80k

5

u/Smil3yAngel 9d ago

How do you get to be a flavor chemist? What kind of education/experience was required for that?

6

u/Mysterious-Bet-6411 9d ago

Chemistry or Chemical Engineering

3

u/pustabusta 9d ago

Or a flavor chemistry graduate degree. Which I am getting one

1

u/treehousehermit 9d ago

What do the flavors look like? Are they clear?

2

u/pustabusta 9d ago

Yea they are clear. Most of the compounds are clear and they are mixed in a solvent or base which is food grade. A lot of times it’s propylene glycol

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u/ohchan 9d ago

Oh you my god! I just wonder if your tastes change over the years/ come upon covid

3

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

I'm very concerned about this as well

1

u/PM_LADY_TOILET_PICS 9d ago

For a soda company in Canada?

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Nope! Flavor house in USA

1

u/PM_LADY_TOILET_PICS 9d ago

Well thats a fun name of a place

1

u/VoiceAltruistic 9d ago

Clark Griswold, that you?

1

u/arcinus 9d ago

I just cannot get out of the barely above 10 euros and hour range as a chemist... i love the subject area and am good at it, its getting tough.

1

u/staoshi500 9d ago

As a beverage industry chemist currently, do you synthesize it all from scratch? you can PM if its tasty trade secrets. I've just always wondered when we get out flavor barrels in how it was made, and never really bothered much to look anything up.

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

It can be. I do a lot of compounded flavors, so combining flavor chemicals together in specific amounts to achieve the desired profile, much like your own formulas.

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u/cylonrobot 9d ago

So... a few years ago, cherry-flavored foods (Cherry coke, cherry yogurt, etc.) began to have a chemical taste for me. Did you all change the chemical that creates the cherry flavor? Or, is it me getting old?

3

u/pustabusta 9d ago

Every ingredient company has their own secret formula for a flavor. It might be that particular company changed their formula. But there is science behind our perception of flavor changes as we get older.

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

This is what I would point to!

1

u/FloppyShellTaco 9d ago

Yall still aint fixed that fuckin popcorn jelly belly

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

There's psychopaths out there that would show up at my doorstep and slit my throat if I touched that flavor. It sells really well.

Different strokes for different folks :)

1

u/floppydickdavey 9d ago

We have a better than average likelihood of crossing each others path irl

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

I look forward to meeting you, floppy dick Davey.

1

u/steventouchdown 9d ago

Sayre?!

Edit: nvm looked at your history. You are not Sayre

1

u/Toast_On_The_RUN 9d ago

I'm about to start school for Chemistry, there's many things I can do with chemistry idk what to do. Flavor chemist sounds interesting.

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

It's the most interesting in my opinion! But the world is your beaker.

1

u/triplexthrowaway 9d ago

Is dick flavor a thing?

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Like lube flavors? Or the smell of a sweaty dick? In my experience, if you ask about it, it probably exists.

1

u/EuphoricMoose 9d ago

I loved the day we made the artificial banana scent in chemistry! It went into the vents and so many classrooms smelled like banana candy.

1

u/Forgotten_Person101 9d ago

Do you enjoy the job?

2

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

I love it. It's a 50/50 mix of creativity and science. Scratches all the itches :)

1

u/MaxwellBlyat 9d ago

And I'm on my last year of chemistry study and I still have no idea what tf I'll do

1

u/atmesque 9d ago

How did you get into this? I’ve got my BS in chemistry. I thought you have to apprentice and such before becoming one. Can’t really figure out to go about that part.

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Yup. It's a 7 year apprenticeship. Just look around for a flavor house who is hiring in their lab. That's the best way. Jersey, Cincinnati, Chicago, or LA are cities you'll most likely have to relocate to tho

1

u/atmesque 9d ago

Right on, appreciate it :)

1

u/ON_A_POWERPLAY 9d ago

I use a lot of flavor chemist's work in the spirits world. Love what y'all do, it's super bad ass.

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Cheers!

1

u/MisanthropicData 9d ago

That sounds like the coolest job ever.

1

u/LiberalDope69420 9d ago

Now that is a true niche market. I took a flavor creation class and learned there are only a couple hundred in the US. Cool stuff!

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

About 400 as of now!

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u/GoGoCrumbly 9d ago

Are you the guy who milks beavers’ anal glands for vanilla flavoring?

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u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Haha that used to be the case for castoreum. But weve since replaced it with natural and man-made chemicals do we don't have to kill beaver butts 👍

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u/Narwahl_Whisperer 9d ago

This sounds like the name of a 90s DJ.

1

u/Armor_of_Inferno 9d ago

I worked with an ex-flavor chemist who airways claimed that he developed the classic bubble gum flavor used in Hubba Bubba / Bubblelicious / Bubble Tape. I never knew if I should belive him.

He retired a few years ago from my trade (database administration), but shared this as his claim-to-fame all the time.

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

He's lying :)

He could have developed "a" bubblegum flavor, but there are thousands. Every brand uses a different flavor. They may taste similar, but all of them have little nuances that set them apart from their competition.

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u/Armor_of_Inferno 9d ago

Ha, I KNEW IT! Thanks for confirming that, because it always sounded like bullshit, but bullshit he got away with because none of us knew anything about flavor chemistry.

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u/FoxInTheMountains 9d ago

Fuck how'd you get into that? I'm currently doing environmental chemistry in a state government position and the pay is...pathetic.

I'm trying to get really good at HPLC and some mass spectrometry methods and switch to private or a higher paying field.

1

u/RescuedRuckus 9d ago

As a QC Chemist in the metal finishing industry I have to ask how the heck do you QC flavors??? I’m sure it’s lots of chromatography but I have this mental image of people in lab coats pipetting drops of stuff into their tongues which is definitely not GLP

1

u/Pizzamann_ 9d ago

Lol. Usually standard QC procedures are employed; specific gravity, flash point, etc can determine if something was made correctly. It is verified by tasting, but it is tasted at dilution in sweetened water. They keep a stock solution and dilute the flavor to levels that would be found in a beverage. If something tastes off, they will run GC/MS to determine if there are any discrepancies.

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u/RescuedRuckus 8d ago

That sounds pretty cool, we do loads of LC/IC work. Not so much GC or MS