Notes from the works and the market

Technical explanation and market reading, written for buyers rather than for search engines. Each note answers a question we are actually asked during an inquiry, which is why they are short and why none of them ends in a sales paragraph.

Articles

Three notes are published in this first phase — one about documents, one about the product, one about who you are actually buying from.

technical note — documents

How to read a certificate of analysis before you read the price

An analysis is a short document that most buyers skim and few read properly. What each line is there to tell you, what the basis of reporting changes, and the questions worth asking a supplier who cannot answer them.

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technical note — product

Cube, loaf or granulated: the form your market actually buys

The same sugar leaves a works in three shapes, and the shape decides the packing, the handling and half the price conversation. How to choose the form before you compare offers.

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market note — sourcing

What changes when you buy from the producer instead of a trader

Not the price, usually. What changes is who answers a technical question, who controls the delivery date, and whose name is on the certificate when your customs broker asks.

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Pages written for a market Certificates and analyses

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