Styling food your way

Food…! The moment we hear this word, our minds wonder into endless possibilities from chocolate oozing brownies to cheese dripping perfectly baked pizzas and what not! Have you ever imagined why do these tempting pictures play in our mind with the very mention of these delicacies?

Well, the credit for those picture perfect creations in the ads and magazines should actually go to the food stylists. Counted amongst the unconventional career choices, food styling is slowly gaining popularity as more and more people are opting for it.

 With mushrooming of food chains, restaurants and of course, magazines and websites raving about them, this profession is gaining momentum. Food styling provides a yummy feast for the eyes, which ultimately pulls the crowd. Taste indeed plays a powerful role but it’s the presentation that helps to make the first impression. The look of the food is enough to make one crave for it. However, only a food stylist knows what goes into creating that temptation, which often involves the use of substitutes.

Programmes Offered:

Though one doesn’t need any particular qualification for pursuing a career in this art, however, candidates from hotel management, home science or culinary arts are preferred. Since they already have the basic knowledge, the required training and experience will add to their skill set and help them in giving that perfect touch.

Listed below are a few such programmes:

• Various short-term courses are offered abroad. The culinary institute of America at Hyde Park, New York offers a week long course in food styling.
• In India, some hotel management institutesteach it as a subject. On completion of the course students can pursue their career as a food stylist:

1.             Mumbai Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition or Catering College
2.             Educational Institute of American Hotel and Motel Association
3.             Culinary Academy, Cidade de Goa
4.             Food Craft Institute, Pune

Eligibility Criteria:

For pursuing food styling as a career, a candidate needs to have the following:

• Keen interest along with a thorough knowledge of food ingredients, and design sense
• Understanding of advertising
• Culinary background, photographic sense
• Good food knowledge

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do cook a lot as experimenting will help an amateur to break boundaries and walk that extra mile
• Test and observe what happens to the food at various temperatures
• Read a lot of magazines and keep developing your design sense

Job opportunities

With a booming culinary sector, where new restaurants or food chains are emerging fast, food styling can be considered a field with unending opportunities. Students after pursuing hotel management can consider this as a career option. Several food stylists are working closely with book publishers, magazines and advertising agencies. There are larger publishing houses known for employing an in-house full-time food stylist. But most of them prefer to work on a freelance basis. Candidates in this field can also work for marketing kitchen equipment, table ware, crockery and glassware. 

Job remuneration

During the initial stages the remuneration may not be much as is the case with most other professions. It is advisable for candidates to begin their professional journey as an assistant to a stylist where the remuneration can vary from Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per assignment. With time and experience, a professional can earn anything from Rs5,000 – 8,000 per day, going up to as much as Rs50,000 – 60,000 a day.

 Other interesting reads:

- Career as a food critic

- Your career after doing Hotel Management