Home bakers and small food producers moving from "selling to friends" to "selling more widely" often haven't thought much about labeling until a customer, market organizer, or retailer asks for it. At that point, a few basics cover most of what's generally expected.
- Product name — clear and specific, not just a brand name
- Ingredients list — typically in descending order by weight
- Allergen information — common allergens like nuts, dairy, gluten flagged clearly, often bolded
- Net weight or volume
- Best-before or expiry date
- Producer name and contact details — even a small business needs to be traceable
Allergens deserve their own visual treatment
Don't bury allergen warnings in small print at the bottom of an ingredients list — bolding or otherwise visually separating them is common practice and genuinely matters for customer safety, not just compliance.
Batch or date codes help more than they seem to
Even a simple batch code lets you trace which ingredients went into which run, which matters enormously if you ever need to investigate a customer complaint or a spoilage issue.
Design still matters, even for a compliance-heavy label
A label crammed with mandatory text doesn't have to look cluttered — clear sectioning (product info up top, ingredients and allergens below) keeps it both compliant and legible.