巧克力衍生出的甜蜜職業

周詳

克力是風行世界的美食，同時它也養活了無數依靠它謀生的人們。巧克力制作、巧克力品鑒、巧克力雕刻……巧克力的風行讓很多人踏上了一條甜蜜的職業道路。

Artisanal Entrepreneur

Many of those who launch artisanal chocolate shops， including Mimi Wheeler， are inspired by a love for chocolate， not business. Wheeler created Grocers Daughter， a shop in Empire， Michigan.

Wheelers shop is open seven days a week， and sales increased 40% last year. She grows herbs there， which show up in the chocolates： lavender， basil， rosemary and mint. Wheeler employs some “very creative chocolatiers”， including some teens who started visiting the shop and ended up working there. Theyve developed a chocolate chili rub meat marinade and started using teas in chocolate. The Tester

Godiva hires hundreds of people to make and sell chocolates. But the hardest jobs to fill are sensory technologists， people who can distinguish between really good and really great. Such professionals need to read between the lines as they watch consumers take taste tests. They need to understand the reaction to a new chocolates appearance， ease of opening， how quickly it melts in the mouth. They also need to know regional preferences. For example， European chocolates must be richer， less sweet， and have more pronounced cocoa notes than American chocolates.

Chocolate Sculptors

Out of hunks of chocolate， they fashion Easter bunnies on the beach， beautiful white chocolate orchids， miniature houses and skyscrapers. Their work graces wedding cakes， charity parties and luxurious corporate events. Some chocolate artists have developed brands and reputations while others work in obscurity. And because demand isnt necessarily high for chocolate sculpture， many spend only a portion of their time sculpting. Yet the very best chocolate sculptors compete internationally， are flown in for major events， and carve out careers akin to celebrity chefs.

手工藝創業者

很多手工巧克力作坊的創始人，包括米米·維勒在內，最初的動力都是出于對巧克力而不是對商業的熱愛。維勒在密歇根州的艾姆派爾開了一家巧克力店，名字叫“雜貨店老板的女兒”。

維勒的店一周營業七天。去年，店里的銷售額增長了40%。她在店里種了很多花草，有薰衣草、羅勒、迷迭香和薄荷，這些都會成為巧克力中的配料。維勒會雇傭一些“非常有創意的巧克力制造者”，其中有些人只有十幾歲。他們最初只是店里的顧客，后來卻變成了員工。他們發明了一種由香辣巧克力包裹的腌肉，還嘗試在巧克力中加入茶葉。

巧克力品鑒師

高迪瓦雇傭了數百名員工生產、銷售巧克力。但公司最難招聘到合適人才的崗位是感官技術專家，也就是那些能夠區分不錯的巧克力和極好的巧克力之間差別的人。這些技術專家需要察言觀色，從消費者試吃巧克力的反應中捕捉信息。他們需要掌握消費者對一款新巧克力的外觀、包裝拆開的難易度、在口中融化速度的感受。他們同時還要了解不同地區之間偏好的差異。比如，歐洲人吃的巧克力必須更醇厚、甜度較低，比美國的巧克力有更豐滿的可可口感。

巧克力雕刻家

他們將成堆的巧克力變成沙灘上的復活節兔子、美麗的白巧克力蘭花、微縮的巧克力房子和摩天大樓。他們的作品點綴著婚禮蛋糕、慈善晚宴和奢華的商業活動。有些巧克力藝術家建立起了自己的品牌和聲譽，還有一些則默默無聞地工作著。因為市場對巧克力雕刻的需求不是很旺盛，也并非必需，所以他們很多只是兼職工作。不過，最頂尖的巧克力雕刻家可以去全球參加競賽，出席各種重大典禮，他們的職業道路和明星廚師差不多。endprint