Food Batchmakers
Set up and operate equipment that mixes or blends ingredients used in the manufacturing of food products. Includes candy makers and cheese makers.
174,520 people do this job in the US. $42,290 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 23%
- 0%
- 77%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 11%. Today's estimate: 13%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formulate or modify recipes for specific kinds of food products.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 25%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Follow recipes to produce food products of specified flavor, texture, clarity, bouquet, or color.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Set up, operate, and tend equipment that cooks, mixes, blends, or processes ingredients in the manufacturing of food products, according to formulas or recipes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Mix or blend ingredients, according to recipes, using a paddle or an agitator, or by controlling vats that heat and mix ingredients.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect and pack the final product.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Modify cooking and forming operations based on the results of sampling processes, adjusting time cycles and ingredients to achieve desired qualities, such as firmness or texture.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 33 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine mixing sequences, based on knowledge of temperature effects and of the solubility of specific ingredients.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Manipulate products, by hand or using machines, to separate, spread, knead, spin, cast, cut, pull, or roll products.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 29 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Test food product samples for moisture content, acidity level, specific gravity, or butter-fat content, and continue processing until desired levels are reached.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 29 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Select and measure or weigh ingredients, using English or metric measures and balance scales.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders7% now, 7% by 2028
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders8% now, 8% by 2028
- Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders6% now, 6% by 2028
- Bakers8% now, 38% by 2028
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products7% now, 7% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).