How To Become An Associate Food Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an associate food scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Food Scientists work to give us all the delicious processed food we have today, from noodles to chips. They ensure that the processing centers meet health guidelines. Food scientists may also conduct experiments to improve food properties like taste and texture.

Associate Food Scientists assist in all these tasks and more. As an Associate Food Scientist, you may help determine the nutritional value of food or measure deterioration. You may work in a food production facility, laboratory, or factory.

A day in life may include researching different food storage techniques, developing new recipes, or exploring ways to improve current food products. You may also assist in management tasks like maintaining a schedule, creating reports, and taking phone calls.

You'll need a bachelor's degree in food science, agricultural science, or a similar field. It's also helpful to get internship experiences for more job opportunities.

ScoreAssociate Food ScientistUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,865

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 6.49%

Black or African American 9.64%

Hispanic or Latino 18.63%

Unknown 6.92%

White 57.47%

Gender

female 51.33%

male 48.67%

Age - 21

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 21

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.8

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.7

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an associate food scientist

Explore associate food scientist education requirements

Most common associate food scientist degrees

Bachelor's

38.1 %

High School Diploma

32.0 %

Associate

16.8 %

Start to develop specific associate food scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Quality Food	36.16%
Food Products	31.99%
Customer Service	7.52%
Quality Customer Service	5.06%
Groceries	4.96%

Complete relevant associate food scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New associate food scientists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an associate food scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real associate food scientist resumes.

Research associate food scientist duties and responsibilities

Maintain cleanliness in food preparation and dining areas in accordance with establish standards.
Carry out groceries, check customers out, bag groceries, stock shelves, close
Collect the necessary raw material stock from the culinary personnel and prepare the ordered dish.
Utilize and operate cutting utensils such as knives, slicers and weighing equipment following menu portion guidelines.

Prepare your associate food scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your associate food scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an associate food scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable associate food scientist resume templates

Build a professional associate food scientist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your associate food scientist resume.