Here’s how you can get paid £50k to travel the world trying new foods

It’s the dream job for travel-loving foodies - getting paid to go to exotic locations across the globe to sample the very best each place has to offer.

A food company is offering someone the chance of a lifetime - get paid to travel the world tasting local dishes to uncover new ingredients

Now a UK company is offering someone the chance to do just that, to help them hunt down unique ingredients for their new range of home-delivered dishes.

The ‘Director of Taste’ role will see one lucky soul travel all-expenses paid to Asia, South America and Eastern Europe for up to four months at a time, trying the local cuisine and providing feedback to the food company. And the icing on the cake is the £50,000 salary.

The job has been created by Vibrant Vegan Co, a London-based food subscription service that caters to people on a plant-based diet.

The 'Director of Taste; will have to find new ingredients to help create more mouth-watering meals.

They posted the job request on their website this week, with the aim to bring exciting new and innovative recipes to the UK - and they’ve already had more than 1,000 applications for the role.

And if you’re a committed carnivore, there’s no need to despair - the chosen candidate doesn’t even have to be a vegan to grab the role, with the company saying they only need to focus on plant-based ingredients when working.

Too good to be true?

It’s not all going to be strolling around sampling the delights of vibrant South American markets or uncovering hidden gems in the back-streets of South East Asia however - the winning candidate will be expected to earn their wage, setting up overseas partnerships to source the new ingredients they uncover.

And applicants must be suitably qualified with at least three years’ experience in the food business or as a chef. Shortlisted candidates will go through a rigorous interview process and be subject to a full background check. The chosen candidate will also be required to complete an in-house taste test to see if their palette is ‘up to scratch’.

The successful applicant will be contracted to travel across the world to countries such as India, China, Turkey, Chile, Mexico and Japan.

Once there, they will have prove their worth as a culinary explorer, finding and trying new plant-based ingredients and reporting their findings back, to help the company create more mouthwatering dishes like their Malaysian gyoza and Mumbai Cauli Thali.

Veganism in vogue

For any committed foody however that is still a dream job, and it’s no surprise to see the kind of response the advert has had.

Iain Burke-Hamilton, the founder of Vibrant Vegan Co, said, “The response has been crazy. We’ve has over 1,200 applications from across the world, with professionals from Singapore, Thailand and Hawaii apply.”

Iain had already founded The Soulful Food Company, a brand of healthy one-pot meals and soups, sold at retailers such as Ocado and Whole Foods Market. The new plant-based food subscription service is run as a social enterprise aimed at socially-conscious consumers looking for convenient vegan food, and works closely with children’s charity War Child to tackle child hunger in war zones across the world.

With an estimated 3.5 million vegans in the UK, and an increasing number of people moving to a more plant-based diet for health and environmental reasons, there is no question the market for such a service is set to boom.

And Iain said their newest recruit would be at the heart of helping them grow and flourish.

“We are always on the hunt for new talent, because I’m a firm believer that it’s the people that make a successful company. However, I don’t think we’ve ever recruited for a job this exciting before. This is a very unique and rewarding job but despite its extensive perks we acknowledge it’s also very demanding.”

If you think this is the job for you then hopeful candidates can see the full details of the role and apply here: https://vibrantvegan.co.uk/job-application