Does chief pie taster David have the best job in Wales?

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Does chief pie taster David have the best job in Wales?

WHEN it comes to job satisfaction, David Jackson really takes the pie.

The 40-year-old ex-chef and food science graduate has an unusual – but some would say vital – role in everyday Welsh life.

While many of his friends are confined to the office from nine ’til five, David can normally be found travelling the length and breadth of the country – tasting pies.

To give him his proper title, David is chief pieologist for Caerphilly-based food and pie suppliers Peter’s.

You’re probably aware that we are the pastry pioneers with ‘game changers’ like our hit Premier Pepperoni Pizza slice, Premier Cheesy Bean slice or Premier Chicken Fajita slice with “Discovery” Seasonings – boy, do they taste good!

You may have heard (or tasted) our simply delightful new range of premium pies, pasties, rolls and slices. These are deliciously deep filled and have a ‘perfect crunch’ puff pastry lid with a melt in the mouth experience, and the best deep fillings in our 40-year history. We like to call them our ‘Premier’ range.

However, there is another equally impressive side to Peter’s … that involves some 900 products! From pie and pastries to bacon and beans, from chips and peas to meats and cheese, from flap jacks and cookies to desserts and drinks, we supply goods fresh as a daisy to fast food outlets, fish bars, restaurants, cafes, sandwich shops, independent retailers, schools, hospitals and hotels throughout the country.

A typical working day can see David conduct taste panels at breakfast and lunch with as many as eight or a dozen pies on offer.

It means buying lunch has now become a dim and distant memory.

And such is the value of his work that David’s bosses are now looking into insuring his tongue and taste buds for a massive five-figure sum.

David, from Rogerstone, Newport, said: “It’s a typical comment when you go away on holiday.

“People say: ‘What do you do?’

“When I say I’m a pieologist it kind of stops them in their tracks and it gets a giggle.

“It’s a pretty rare role. You have great fun with it and meet interesting people and customers.

“At the end of the day, it’s a hoot and you can’t take it too seriously when your job is to develop the next great pie.”

David’s job sees him work with food retailers to watch food trends, work on recipe development, plan products – and, well, eat.

And despite his pie-heavy diet David says it hasn’t had too adverse an effect on his waistline over the years.

“Obviously with the great job which I have you have the great opportunity to try a different trouser size every year,” he said.

“We have a fairly fixed diet. And it’s a balanced diet because you have a pie in each hand!

“I have actually lost weight during the last two years but you do have to be careful with your diet.

“Normally we don’t swallow a lot of what we are tasting. We are trained to professionally taste rather like the wine tasters.

“Though every once in a while, yes I will admit, you eat the whole product.”

The work he and his colleagues do has reportedly brought in millions of pounds of extra business over the last few years.

It means there is a high price on David’s mouth and his bosses are now looking to insure his tongue and taste buds, though premiums run above £10,000.

David said: “Because we have had such great success in recent years, and brought in £20m worth of business from product development, the business investigated the potential for insuring my taste buds and tongue.

“I understand the costs around it are not all that terrific and the premiums are rather steep and going into five figures.”

Recently, David has been devouring a beef and coca-cola pie as well as thai green and red chicken pies, which are all in development.

He said: “For more than 30 years we have had a pie made from steak and kidney and chicken and mushroom. But we always have to keep an eye on the market.

“The really interesting part of the job is looking at trends in food.

“There’s a big trend for food with spiciness and a lot of British, patriotic products with the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee this year.

“Just last week we were tasting a coca cola and beef pie.

“It had a coca cola-based sauce with prime British steak and a little hint of chilli just at the back.

“My taste buds have taken a bit of a battering.”

Alongside pies, David’s other big passion is racing cars which he has done recently with some success in his Caterham 7 sports car at the Castle Combe circuit.

“I have had a few wins so the pies aren’t slowing me down too much,” he said.

“I have always had an interest in cars since I was three-years-old and I have been fortunate enough to fulfil my dream and buy a Caterham.”

And asked if there was any job he would swap for his own, there was only one thing David could possibly think of.

“Yeah, beer tasting at Brains,” he said.

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