Taste testers needed for OSU’s Food Innovation Center

Elizabeth Dinh
·2 min read

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Part of Jessica Gutierrez’s job is to find taste testers.

“Essentially what we get to do is pay people to try different food and beverage products,” said Gutierrez, a Sensory Science Researcher for Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center. “So flavor, texture, aroma, mouthfeel, kind of whatever they’re looking for. Give that data back to our client and they know what changes to make to their product.”

The Food Innovation Center, based in Portland’s Pearl District, helps people and companies develop their innovative food products.

Jessica Gutierrez, the Sensory Science Researcher for Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center, February 2024 (KOIN)
Jessica Gutierrez, the Sensory Science Researcher for Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, February 2024 (KOIN)

“Our mission here at the Food Innovation Center is to support our local food and beverage companies. So we help large scale, small scale companies, not just Pacific Northwest, but also kind of regional or national brands as well,” she told KOIN 6 News.

That support includes doing research with taste testers. She and her colleagues build surveys for the taste testers. Group sizes vary but typically it’s 100 consumers per study.

The staff will put products on a tray, open a small door on a counter and slide the food in to the tester, who tries the food and provides an honest opinion using the survey form.

Then the taste testers get paid. Sometimes it’s cash, but Gutierrez said most of the time it’s gift cards. How much they get depends on how long the test lasts.

“A 30-to-45 minute study would be $40. If they’re here for an hour it could be $50 to $60. And if it goes beyond that, it’ll just kind of match basically per minute.”

Samples being tested at Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center in Portland, (KOIN, file)
Samples being tested at Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center in Portland, (KOIN, file)
Samples being tested at Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center in Portland, (KOIN, file)
Samples being tested at Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center in Portland, (KOIN, file)

Future taste testers need to fill out an online survey. The Food Innovation Center also posts their upcoming events on their social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

Gutierrez studied at OSU’s Food Science Program before she landed her current job in 2020.

“I love it. It’s the best. It’s definitely a dream career, so I’m so lucky to be here and started out at OSU and now I’m still here,” she said. “Our Portlanders are awesome foodies and they’re, like, the best critics. So we’re so lucky to be here. And I love this job.”

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