Nutella maker, is hiring taste testers

Is there anything people won’t do for Nutella? The chocolate-hazelnut spread that boasts 100 calories per spoonful has inspired supermarket riots, ruined an athlete’s career, even caused some temporary parental insanity. Now its parent company is looking for applicants ready to drop everything and spend the next three months shoveling delicious calories into their gullets. Er, we mean taste-testing.

Ferrero, which makes Nutella and other goodies like Ferrero Rocher chocolates, has posted an ad for 60 non-professionals to taste cacao, hazelnuts and chocolate products. Because it’s looking for regular consumers, no experience is needed to be a “sensory judge,” as the company’s ad describes the gig. The only requirements are that tasters have no food allergies and be able to use a computer, reports The Local, an English-language outlet based in Italy.

According to The Local, it’s the first time the company is specifically looking for non-professionals.

There is one catch: The chosen ones must be ready to move to Ferrero’s Italian headquarters in Alba. The town, in the Piedmont region of Italy, is known as the white truffle capital of the world.

The 60 will take a paid three-month course, starting in September, to help them hone their sense of smell and taste and learn terminology to describe the flavors they’re tasting. Those who pass the course will be employed on a long-term, part-time contract, starting at two hours per week.