Hi! I am new. This is my 3rd batch of hot sauce I have made. I have finally nailed down the label, recipe and am beginning to figure out the process of getting it tested at a lab and sent to a process authority. I won't post my recipe, but I am glad to say it is all 100% natural ingredients, including mostly habaneros, serranos and only ONE north carolina reaper pepper (dehydrated). I have enjoyed sweetening my hot sauce with bananas and agave nectar. It is organic and vegan, which also feels good for my own personal views. What do you think of the look and label? My friend did the artwork and I did the graphic design. Thanks so much and I am loving this forum - very educational and inspirational!
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NEWKS Hot Sauce (Rate my label)
- Thread starter Newks_Hot_Sauce
- Start date
the label is unique for sure. one question..... can you taste the banana?
thanks - and yes! you can certainly taste the banana, but i use a lot! the sweet flavor hits you first, then you feel the habanero and reaper kick in.luvmesump3pp3rz said:
no worries, at least you are honest. what looks weird to you? do you just not like the art work or is it the color of the sauce? the layout? thanks.juanitos said:
I dig that. Considering I have roots in underground music and weird art scenes - I hope this label is a bit of a reflection on myself. Not looking to make something that blends in with all the others anyways. Thanks I appreciate this feedback.pellidon said:
You should remove the apostrophe.
NEWK'S (Your name is Newk)
NEWKS (Nuclear weapons, AND your name could be Newk, lots of brands remove the apostrophe as it can look better for branding)
If there is no tie to Newk being a personal name, definitely remove it.
NEWK'S (Your name is Newk)
NEWKS (Nuclear weapons, AND your name could be Newk, lots of brands remove the apostrophe as it can look better for branding)
If there is no tie to Newk being a personal name, definitely remove it.
The Hot Pepper said:
Thanks for this - Newcomb is my last name, so it is indeed a play off of my name.
This post made me realize that the shirts have the apostrophe but the labels don't. I believe I'll keep the labels and any future designs without the apostrophe.
Good move!
And it looks good.
Also your double negative would sound better as a positive.
"Due to lack of artificial additives..."
to:
"Because we only use natural ingredients..."
And it looks good.
Also your double negative would sound better as a positive.
"Due to lack of artificial additives..."
to:
"Because we only use natural ingredients..."
The white faces form a W and a W is in the logo right above it so I like it. It could use a little refining but looks good so far.
salsalady
eXtreme Business
hi Newks! Welcome to THP
Congrats on getting this far with your project. Since this product is headed for market, I'll comment with that goal in mind.
The logo has to have the generally recognized name of what the product is, usually below the brand name. In this case, "Hot Sauce". It should also have it because...when printed on a t-shirt or paper stock, how will people know what the shirt/logo is advertising?
Put "Refrigerate After Opening" on the front label below the quantity. Don't say it is 'recommended'. Unless you get approval from your PA that it is OK to leave the sauce unrefrigerated for eternity, always say Refrigerate. This is a huge CYA item.
Regarding Name- Is this the only sauce you'll ever make and sell? If so, then calling it Newks Hot Sauce is fine. If you plan to branch out, then you need to come up with individual names for the different sauces.
Newks Habanero Hot Sauce
Newks Jalapeno Hot Sauce
Newks Depleted Plutonium Hot Sauce
Newks Meltdown Hot Sauce
You get the idea~~~
A HEAT LEVEL indicator is really good to have on a label. Not Required, but a very good idea, especially for when you aren't there to tell customers it's a 3/10 or 7/10.
Your ingredients don't look like they are in order. I'm pretty sure you have more tomatoes and/or carrots than scorpion pepper salt. They have to be listed in descending order by predominance. It can be by weight or volume. Since you mentioned you use a LOT of bananas, is that more than the combined weight of all the peppers? Your PA and licensing inspector can help you getting things in the correct order.
There are 3 peppers listed first (with the less than 2% note). I don't like that 2% thing. Is that to let people know it's not really super hot? You could list each pepper separately in which case it might look something like-
banana, tomato, serrano pepper, onion, habanero, vinegar, garlic, scorpion pepper salt, carolina reaper pepper, ....
it's called the Carolina Reaper Pepper, not NORTH carolina reaper pepper. I don't know if it should be capitalized or not. Google can probably help you with that~
Why use Scorpion Pepper Salt? If you do use that ingredient, it has to be called out like- Scorpion Pepper Salt (sea salt, scorpion pepper flakes/powder). I think a lot of people, especially outside the chilehead community won't know what that is. I'd suggest using some scorpion pepper/flakes/powder, list it separately, and use sea salt listed separately.
Are the tomatoes canned or fresh? If canned, they have to be called out like the sea salt with all the citric acid, etc.
Shrink the MADE IN PORTLAND, OR. Wow, that's just SHOUTING how important it is that people know it's from PORTLAND, OR. People are interested and they'll read the labels. Maybe use that space for a brief description/romance panel. Maybe combine 2 items to something like...
"Proudly made in small batches in Portland OR with no artificial additives or preservatives. Some variation in color from batch to batch may occur.". Work on the ingredients so there is minimal variations from batch to batch. Weigh EVERYTHING. Most sauce makers use grams as that is easy to scale. Personally, I wouldn't say some variations in FLAVOR may occur from batch to batch. While that may actually occur, don't bring it to customer's attention or you'll be refunding for every person who thinks This batch isn't a Banana-y as the Last batch.
If you haven't found this yet, here's some great info regarding salts, weights, and other stuff-
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/49801-chile-pepper-weights-measures-and-other-things/
Speaking of freeing up some space on the label....eliminate ETSY. If this design is for production labels, think long term. You don't want to print up 10,000 labels and then POOF! Etsy is Gone! OR---Even better...what happens when you get to selling on other internet platforms like Amazon, your local farmer's market, stores.....It's probably a pretty good bet that you'll be starting a web page or FB page once it's all legal and good to go. To start with, maybe just add a little home printed sticker on the back of the bottle with your "follow us, buy here, FB @ " info.
The Address section should have your legal business name as well as address. This is also a good place to put a WEBSITE.Com address.
Nutrition Information Panels are NOT required! If you sell across state lines you do have to FDA registered as a food processor, you inspector/PA should be able to help with that. But the FDA has a small processor exemption for NIP requirements.
OK, that's enough for now. Hope the comments help. It's a fun process, just take it step by step.
Also, Do NOT print labels until your recipe, and label format has been approved by the PA and your inspector! What happens if the pH is too high and you have to add more vinegar which changes the order of the ingredients? Or instead of vinegar, you choose to add some powdered ascorbic acid (Vit. C)? Now, all those labels are in the dust bin..... Some states have requirements like font size for the product name, ingredients, etc. I'd also suggest doing a few sheet stock prints before committing to the 5,000 from a professional printer. You can put your label on a flash drive and take it to Staples/Office Depot and they can print color or B&W on Avery 2"x4" label stock.
Once you are all licensed, get out to some farmers markets and see what the reaction from customers is. It may be all Loving It, or something may just put them off that you can change before doing a full run.
Good Luck! Post label updates as you work it through. I like the funky retro look of the font. I'm not sure about the faces and breath on both sides. The mushroom cloud might be enough to get the message across and leave more options for names and such. I'm interested to see what others think.
salsalady
Another post edit....
Real estate on the label is extremely valuable. Shrink the word Ingredients and add the Thank You to the Some variations paragraph.
Congrats on getting this far with your project. Since this product is headed for market, I'll comment with that goal in mind.
The logo has to have the generally recognized name of what the product is, usually below the brand name. In this case, "Hot Sauce". It should also have it because...when printed on a t-shirt or paper stock, how will people know what the shirt/logo is advertising?
Put "Refrigerate After Opening" on the front label below the quantity. Don't say it is 'recommended'. Unless you get approval from your PA that it is OK to leave the sauce unrefrigerated for eternity, always say Refrigerate. This is a huge CYA item.
Regarding Name- Is this the only sauce you'll ever make and sell? If so, then calling it Newks Hot Sauce is fine. If you plan to branch out, then you need to come up with individual names for the different sauces.
Newks Habanero Hot Sauce
Newks Jalapeno Hot Sauce
Newks Depleted Plutonium Hot Sauce
Newks Meltdown Hot Sauce
You get the idea~~~
A HEAT LEVEL indicator is really good to have on a label. Not Required, but a very good idea, especially for when you aren't there to tell customers it's a 3/10 or 7/10.
Your ingredients don't look like they are in order. I'm pretty sure you have more tomatoes and/or carrots than scorpion pepper salt. They have to be listed in descending order by predominance. It can be by weight or volume. Since you mentioned you use a LOT of bananas, is that more than the combined weight of all the peppers? Your PA and licensing inspector can help you getting things in the correct order.
There are 3 peppers listed first (with the less than 2% note). I don't like that 2% thing. Is that to let people know it's not really super hot? You could list each pepper separately in which case it might look something like-
banana, tomato, serrano pepper, onion, habanero, vinegar, garlic, scorpion pepper salt, carolina reaper pepper, ....
it's called the Carolina Reaper Pepper, not NORTH carolina reaper pepper. I don't know if it should be capitalized or not. Google can probably help you with that~
Why use Scorpion Pepper Salt? If you do use that ingredient, it has to be called out like- Scorpion Pepper Salt (sea salt, scorpion pepper flakes/powder). I think a lot of people, especially outside the chilehead community won't know what that is. I'd suggest using some scorpion pepper/flakes/powder, list it separately, and use sea salt listed separately.
Are the tomatoes canned or fresh? If canned, they have to be called out like the sea salt with all the citric acid, etc.
Shrink the MADE IN PORTLAND, OR. Wow, that's just SHOUTING how important it is that people know it's from PORTLAND, OR. People are interested and they'll read the labels. Maybe use that space for a brief description/romance panel. Maybe combine 2 items to something like...
"Proudly made in small batches in Portland OR with no artificial additives or preservatives. Some variation in color from batch to batch may occur.". Work on the ingredients so there is minimal variations from batch to batch. Weigh EVERYTHING. Most sauce makers use grams as that is easy to scale. Personally, I wouldn't say some variations in FLAVOR may occur from batch to batch. While that may actually occur, don't bring it to customer's attention or you'll be refunding for every person who thinks This batch isn't a Banana-y as the Last batch.
If you haven't found this yet, here's some great info regarding salts, weights, and other stuff-
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/49801-chile-pepper-weights-measures-and-other-things/
Speaking of freeing up some space on the label....eliminate ETSY. If this design is for production labels, think long term. You don't want to print up 10,000 labels and then POOF! Etsy is Gone! OR---Even better...what happens when you get to selling on other internet platforms like Amazon, your local farmer's market, stores.....It's probably a pretty good bet that you'll be starting a web page or FB page once it's all legal and good to go. To start with, maybe just add a little home printed sticker on the back of the bottle with your "follow us, buy here, FB @ " info.
The Address section should have your legal business name as well as address. This is also a good place to put a WEBSITE.Com address.
Nutrition Information Panels are NOT required! If you sell across state lines you do have to FDA registered as a food processor, you inspector/PA should be able to help with that. But the FDA has a small processor exemption for NIP requirements.
OK, that's enough for now. Hope the comments help. It's a fun process, just take it step by step.
Also, Do NOT print labels until your recipe, and label format has been approved by the PA and your inspector! What happens if the pH is too high and you have to add more vinegar which changes the order of the ingredients? Or instead of vinegar, you choose to add some powdered ascorbic acid (Vit. C)? Now, all those labels are in the dust bin..... Some states have requirements like font size for the product name, ingredients, etc. I'd also suggest doing a few sheet stock prints before committing to the 5,000 from a professional printer. You can put your label on a flash drive and take it to Staples/Office Depot and they can print color or B&W on Avery 2"x4" label stock.
Once you are all licensed, get out to some farmers markets and see what the reaction from customers is. It may be all Loving It, or something may just put them off that you can change before doing a full run.
Good Luck! Post label updates as you work it through. I like the funky retro look of the font. I'm not sure about the faces and breath on both sides. The mushroom cloud might be enough to get the message across and leave more options for names and such. I'm interested to see what others think.
salsalady
Another post edit....
Real estate on the label is extremely valuable. Shrink the word Ingredients and add the Thank You to the Some variations paragraph.
AMAZING FEEDBACK Salsalady thank you so much - also thank you to everyone for any feedback they gave, big or small. I shall make adjustments with all these things in mind.
I got a buddy that keeps trying to get me to make a banana sauce, I keep thinking it will be weird though. I might try a small batch, or when you get these ready for sale, or a test batch you want feedback on let me know. I don't give tje best reviews, but I will definitely tell you what I think about it
If you want to keep the etsy, put the direct link.
I can see wanting to keep it, it has an inherent value of saying "this is small batch, unique."
I can see wanting to keep it, it has an inherent value of saying "this is small batch, unique."
Thanks again to everyone for the feedback. YES I would be interested in either swapping hot sauces or mailing them out for feedback. I would just ask that you can cover the cost of shipping and ingredients is all. If interested, shoot me a message. Thanks everybody. I plan to sit down with the label before printing the next round of them, and making a lot of edits that were recommended here.
Here's my last tip, get better bananas for your produce pic. We all know those bananas with the brown are fine, but for the pic, no brown looks better.
