Maple and Specialty Producers Editing and Proofreading Services

Two jugs sit side by side on the same shelf. One says pure maple syrup with a grade and a colour class. The other says maple-flavoured breakfast syrup, in slightly smaller type, and outsells the first three to one on price. The producer of the first has about forty words on a label with which to explain a real difference, and most of those words are already spoken for.

We edit what maple and specialty food producers write — grade and colour class declarations, labels and product descriptions within the constraints that apply, farm gate and market signage, wholesale sell sheets and distributor documentation, food safety and production records, festival and tourism material, export documentation, and grant applications and business plans. Our editors work on labels that have to do a lot with very little room.

The grade and description on a small producer's label is the whole of their argument, and its failure is a label that states a class without translating it. A colour class is a technical fact that tells a shopper nothing until somebody says what it tastes like. We work through these so the grade and colour class are stated exactly as the classification requires and then translated in the shopper's terms in the same field of view, since "amber, rich taste" is a class and "the one most people pour on pancakes" is what sells it; so the difference between the pure product and the flavoured product is expressed as a fact rather than as an implication, because the comparison is the sale and it has to be made without disparaging a competitor by name; so the density or quality basis is stated where it distinguishes a properly finished product; so seasonal and batch variation is explained rather than apologised for, given that a customer who understands why this year's is darker will buy it again; so the yield fact that makes the price make sense is given once, in a number; so storage and shelf life after opening are stated in the same place, as this is the commonest cause of a wasted jug and a lost customer; and so the producer's location is specific enough to be a claim rather than a mood. Labels written this way justify the price without arguing about it.

Everything you send is treated in confidence, including label drafts, production records and commercial material. We are editors rather than producers, graders or regulatory advisers, and we offer no view on grading, labelling compliance or product claims. What we can do is make forty words do the work.