Women and Chocolate Candy Careers
by Judi Sandall
judi.sandall@careerschooldirectory.com
Career School Directory Columnist
"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt," says Lucy Van Pelt in the Peanuts comic strip. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, everyone's thoughts turn to candy, especially chocolate. In fact, according to the National Confectioners Association, 47 percent of consumers plan to buy candy for their significant others, and chocolate is considered the sexiest Valentine's Day gift to give.
Chocolate has been revered and savored for 15 centuries. Once only available to the rich and powerful, chocolate has become a rich and powerful addiction for people everywhere. How sweet would it be to immerse yourself in chocolate--a career in chocolate, to be specific?
For the Love of Chocolate
The ultimate chocolate career has to be chocolatier. A number of prominent Chicago chocolatiers have donated their time to the second annual For the Love of Chocolate, an event that benefits the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP). This nonprofit organization's mission is to "promote and provide career opportunities in the foodservice industry for disadvantaged youth through culinary arts education and employment." The pastry chefs and chocolatiers invited to this chocolate event include a number of women who have chosen careers based on their love of this intoxicating treat.
Chocolatier Katrina Markoff, owner of Vosges Haut Chocolat in Chicago, graduated from culinary school before pursuing apprenticeships around the globe. Pakistani-born chocolatier Uzma Sharif, owns Chicago-based Love in Disguise Chocolate Ltd., where she meticulously puts "a lot of love" and a day and a half of preparation into every designer truffle. Sarah Levy, a twenty-something after culinary school, opened Sarah's Pastries & Candies in Chicago.
Chocolate Is Big Business
According to an article published in the Chicago Tribune, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association estimates that chocolate is a $14.5 billion annual industry. Approximately 65,000 jobs in the U.S. are directly involved in the manufacture of chocolate and confectionery products. In addition to being incredibly and sinfully tasty, chocolate is clearly big, big business. It's an industry in which women are making significant inroads, and with a
baking and pastry degree, you too could sweeten your career. This Valentine's Day the old stereotype of women simply languishing and eating bonbons is gone--now they're the ones making those sumptuous little chocolate goodies.
Sources
About the Author
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular culinary columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Posted on February 12, 2007 at 5:02 PM
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