Gourmet French translations for Dr. Oetker

Never fear, French-speaking bakers: the days of ingredient mix-ups are over! Dr. Oetker has entrusted the translation of its new cookbook to the experts at Supertext.

The Supertext kitchen has baked up a storm for Dr. Oetker Switzerland yet again. The company’s Love Cakes cookbook was translated into French and Italian by Supertext in 2018. For its latest book, the Swiss subsidiary of the globally present Dr. Oetker brand created 51 new sweet and salty delights using garden-fresh ingredients. Next came a photoshoot for the creators and their creations, which are made entirely from regional products. And to make sure that French speakers can also whip up baked goods “from garden to table”, Dr. Oetker decided to add a pinch of Supertext to the translation recipe.

Add 10,000 words, then mix

The entire book amounted to an impressive 10,000 words. The main ingredient for efficient and cost-effective translation was an alignment using last year’s cookbook: the translated document was broken down into units that were then added to the translation memory in the translation software. This allowed for individual terms, and even whole segments, to be reused in the new project. For example, every recipe begins with “au préalable” – preparation. And the abbreviations CS and CC were very helpful in the translation of the first cookbook, ensuring that bakers don’t get “cuiller à soupe” (soup spoon) and “cuiller à café” (teaspoon) mixed up. A call between the client, language manager and project manager clarified the final terminology, spelling and measurements requirements before the translation phase kicked off. This saved time and money for the client, and ensured that the translation of the latest cookbook was consistent with its predecessor.

Translations fresh out of the Supertext oven

Just like a cake, a translation will only be a success if the ingredients and timing are right. Source recipe delivery delays and the looming deadline put Supertext under pressure: a relatively large volume of words had to be translated in a very short amount of time. But getting the job done was a piece of cake for the pros at Supertext. As Joëlle Zaugg, Product Manager Cakes/Desserts at Dr. Oetker put it:

Supertext is super efficient! We were able to carry out the translation of this year’s cookbook very efficiently thanks to the collaboration with Supertext, whose work was impeccable despite the tight deadline.

Cover image via Dr. Oetker



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