Cool Job: Flavor Guru, Ben & Jerry's

Nothing beats a little ice cream in your place of business. For Ben & Jerry's Flavor Guru Chris Rivard, rising and shining with a little Mint Chocolate Cookie is just a typical day at work— his 9 to 5 consists of helping the iconic Vermont brand conceive and test drive new flavors. Here, Rivard provides Kidult a taste of what can only be described as la dolce vita (the sweet life).

What's a typical day like in the "office?"

I can honestly say I have not had a “typical” day since I started. Some days I spend the entire time in meetings and conference calls with people all over the globe, or I could spend most of the day in our kitchen conceptualizing new flavors. I have started many days tasting a  handful of ice creams instead of breakfast at 8am, or meeting with suppliers and trying out their new innovations. Whatever I do, it's centered around ice cream, so it’s always a lot of fun!

How does one become a Flavor Guru? What kinds of backgrounds do the Flavor Gurus at Ben & Jerry's tend to have?

Becoming a Flavor Guru is very tough since, as you might imagine, there are lots of people who’d like to develop Ben & Jerry’s flavors! I just joined the group about 6 months ago and I consider myself very lucky. Our backgrounds are a mix of culinary experts and food science geeks (myself included).

Are the interviews a little atypical? Is there a chance you might be crafting treats for your employer-to-be?

Interviews include the standard questions—why you’re a good fit for the company, what expertise you bring to the table, etc., but it’s Ben & Jerry’s, so you can expect some slightly-off-center questions too. And you’re always welcome to bring treats!

How do your flavors tend to be conceived? Is it usually during meetings while bouncing ideas off of one another or do you tend to get random surges of inspiration?

It’s a little of both. We get a lot of really great and fun ideas from our fans and tend to combine these with flavor trends that are popular. We just got back from a trip out to the West coast as a group. We spent about 5 days touring restaurants, bars, shops etc. checking out trends and eating our way through the city. I think we all came back with inspiration for new flavors to come.

How does anyone manage to stay slim in your line of work?

I learned two things very quickly: 1) Only take a small bite when tasting ice cream. 2) Take advantage of the gym and trainer we have in our building.

Your job sounds pretty ideal, but what are some of its biggest challenges?

Like any job, there are always stressful points in time, but the most difficult times are generally around working with an accelerated timeline. However, we have a great team and network of people, so we always seem to get the job done.  

Do you ever get sick of ice cream?

Some days I feel like I could never eat ice cream again, but somehow I always come back to it.

Have you ever had any flavor mishaps: dreamt something up that sounded great in theory, but upon the actual tasting turned out to be...ack?

Not yet, but I am sure there will be plenty to come. I know that the other seasoned Flavor Gurus have all had a mishap or two! If you want to be creative and push the ice cream boundaries, you have to be willing to try something that might turn out to be not so good.

What advice might you have for those who'd love to be in your shoes one day?

When we do have job openings, you can imagine the pool of candidates can be pretty competitive. Do something that sets you apart from the crowd. We are all professionals here, but we still know how to have fun and one of the most important things we look for is that a new hire will be a good fit for the group.

What kinds of experience (classes, majors, entry level jobs) should one strive to get who happens to be interested in this line of work?

We have a handful of internships around the office, but having a love for food is a must. Anything that allows you to learn about food and the culture around food is a good start.