Food Batchmakers

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$42,290

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$36,350 – $49,670

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

174,520

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+6.5%

At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)

Openings a year (projected)

23,100

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Set up and operate equipment that mixes or blends ingredients used in the manufacturing of food products. Includes candy makers and cheese makers.

Main tasks

• Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle.
• Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.
• Set up, operate, and tend equipment that cooks, mixes, blends, or processes ingredients in the manufacturing of food products, according to formulas or recipes.
• Mix or blend ingredients, according to recipes, using a paddle or an agitator, or by controlling vats that heat and mix ingredients.
• Follow recipes to produce food products of specified flavor, texture, clarity, bouquet, or color.
• Give directions to other workers who are assisting in the batchmaking process.
• Select and measure or weigh ingredients, using English or metric measures and balance scales.
• Press switches and turn knobs to start, adjust, and regulate equipment, such as beaters, extruders, discharge pipes, and salt pumps.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 2 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

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• Bakers

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• Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

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• Food Science Technicians

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• Cooks, Restaurant

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