Do you want to learn more about coffee packaging, design, and packaging solutions? Are you looking to automate your coffee business packaging to meet market demands? This article will introduce you to all the knowledge from coffee materials to finished pouch packaging.
Understanding The History Of Coffee Packaging
From the early use of basic containers like jute bags and beeswax-treated bags and cans for storage and transportation to the use of tin cans during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution to extend the shelf life of coffee.
By the late 19th century, with the introduction of machinery, coffee packaging began to industrialize, and paper bags for coffee packaging quickly became mainstream. This shift facilitated marketing and promotion, leading to the commercialization of coffee.
In the late 20th century, with the introduction of pre-packaged instant coffee cups and ready-to-drink bottled packaging to meet market demands, coffee packaging became more lightweight.
In the early 21st century, coffee packaging bags with features like one-way valves, aluminum foil lining, and resealability further improved the freshness of coffee.
Today, there is a focus on sustainable, low-carbon coffee packaging, incorporating compostable and reusable components into coffee packaging solutions.
Coffee Packaging Applications
According to your coffee business, you will find that different types of packaging can meet the specific needs of whole bean packaging, ground coffee packaging, and instant coffee packaging.
Whole beans
They are typically packaged using multi-layer composite materials with a one-way valve to prevent the intrusion of oxygen and moisture. This packaging escapes the carbon dioxide produced after roasting coffee, keeping your coffee beans fresh. The packaging bags are also designed with resealable closures at the opening, making storing coffee convenient.
Ground coffee
Apart from using multi-layer composite materials with a one-way valve for packaging, your specialty coffee grounds also utilize aluminum foil bags for vacuum packaging. Because powdered coffee is more susceptible to moisture and spoilage, vacuum packaging isolates oxygen and moisture, preserving the flavor of the coffee grounds.
Instant coffee
Adopting sachet for single portion packaging, lightweight and easy to carry, convenient for single quantitative use.
Types of Coffee Packaging
What types of packaging are best for your coffee?
Understand the different options and advantages of coffee packaging bags, and choose the type of bag that suits your coffee, budget, and brand.
Film forming Gusseted bags/Flat bottom bags.
Gusseted bags are created by vertical form fill seal machines using roll stock film, with a gusseting and folding device forming bag gussets and a flat bottom structure. They are relatively inexpensive.The folding can be adjustable, making it convenient to store coffee of different capacities, and the filled bags can stand upright on shelves for display.The bag side can optionally 4 hot-pressed edges for more three-dimensional molding.
Pre-Made Flat Bottom Bag/Stabilo Bag
The most popular premade bag types in the European and American coffee industry. Finished bags are effective and relatively expensive, an ideal packaging choice for your specialty coffee.
Stabilo Bag with 4 hot-pressed edges on the side, giving them a unique aesthetic appeal due to their box-shaped design.
- Unlike regular stand-up pouches, flat bottom bags/Stabilo bags have 5 printing panels: front, back, two sides, and bottom, providing enough space to showcase designs and products neatly and prominently.
- They stand firmly on shelves, effectively saving you additional packaging materials.
- Adding one-way exhaust valve, resealing self-sealing zipper
Stand up Pouch
Stand-up pouches are an ideal packaging option for your specialty coffee, with their stable upright position on shelves, two printable surfaces that help showcase your coffee products and brand. They are more cost-effective than rigid packaging and offer functionality, such as a resealable closure for easy storage of coffee, nitrogen flushing, vacuum sealing, one-way valve design to preserve the freshness of coffee.
Stick Pack
Stick pack designed for instant coffee powder in single-serving quantities. Each pack can brew one cup of coffee, they are lightweight, easy to carry, and convenient for single quantitative use.
Sachet
A sachet is a type of packaging designed for steeped coffee or drip coffee. It typically has three or four sealed edges and is used as an outer packaging for these coffee packaging.
Vacuum Brick Bag
If your coffee requires vacuum packaging, then vacuum brick bag are your ideal coffee packaging choice, shaped like a brick, are typically packaged using aluminum foil film as the packaging material. After major processing steps such as vibration, pressing, reforming, vacuuming, sealing, cutting, smoothing, and conveying, they achieve an attractive bag shape with the appropriate vacuum degree.
Materials Used In Coffee Packaging
When packaging coffee beans (or powder), you need to prevent oxidation, which is
typically achieved through light-proof packaging using materials such as multi-layer composite materials, aluminum foil, and kraft paper.
Multi-layer composite materials
Most coffee bag packaging options are highly cost-effective. They consist of layers of plastic and aluminum foil combined, usually more than 3 layers are needed for lamination, which is done by surface film + pure aluminum foil/aluminum coated film + backing film, such as PET/AL/PE.
Aluminum foil
Aluminum foil is considered the best material for isolating coffee from moisture and oxygen, and when combined with vacuum sealing, it can preserve the freshness of coffee for a long time.
Kraft paper
An environmentally friendly and compostable packaging material, kraft paper combined with PLA film enables biodegradable packaging.
Sustainable Options In Coffee Packaging
If your customers value the environmental impact of product packaging and are willing to pay a higher price for recyclable materials, you can choose from the following materials:
Biodegradable Materials
Packaging made of biodegradable plastics, starch-based materials, and kraft paper are options in the coffee industry. For example, PLA, a biodegradable plastic, can degrade in industrial composting facilities, reducing plastic waste. Kraft paper is a natural biodegradable material that can be recycled and reused.
Sustainable Ink
Using eco-friendly ink for packaging printing results in lower volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, making it biodegradable and recyclable.
Electronic Tags
Integrating electronic tags into automated systems to replace manual tags reduces waste generation, aligning with sustainability goals.
Maintaining Coffee Freshness And Aroma During Packaging
The goal of coffee packaging has always been to better preserve the freshness and flavor of coffee. Below are six points for your understanding.
Light-proof sealing
Use multi-layer composite film for light-proof sealed packaging of your coffee, with aluminum foil lining to prevent air and moisture from entering.
Vacuum packaging
Some specialty coffee packaging will opt for vacuum packaging, directly removing air and moisture.
One-way exhaust valve
Your coffee packaging bag needs to be equipped with a one-way valve design, allowing the carbon dioxide produced by roasted coffee to escape from inside to outside through the exhaust valve, without returning external gas, keeping the coffee fresh.
Nitrogen flushing packaging
You can flush with nitrogen before sealing the coffee bag to replace the oxygen inside, effectively preventing coffee oxidation and deterioration.
Reusable sealing
You can choose to have a resealable zipper design at the top of the pre-made bag for convenient coffee storage.
Inserting desiccants
You can insert small packets of desiccant to remove oxygen and moisture from the bag, keeping the coffee beans fresh.
What Kind Of Coffee Sizeis Right For Your Coffee Business
When you’re considering coffee bag sizes, it’s important to match them with usage scenarios and market demand. Here are common coffee bag sizes and their suitable user groups:
Small packaging
Typically below 100g in capacity, such as 1 ounce (28 grams), 2 ounces (56 grams), 50 grams, or 100 grams. These are suitable for individual use, allowing for the selection of different coffee flavors.
Medium packaging
Capacities generally range from 200g to 500g, including 200 grams, 8 ounces (227 grams), 250 grams, 12 ounces (340 grams), 16 ounces (454 grams), and 500 grams. They are suitable for groups with a moderate coffee demand.
Large packaging
Capacities are generally above 1 kilogram, suitable for commercial wholesale purposes such as coffee shops.
Coffee Packaging Design And Branding
When considering coffee packaging, you need to consider not only the functionality but also the aesthetics of the design to attract consumers to appreciate its creativity and attractiveness, here we take a look at coffee packaging design and branding.
Packaging Information
Who are you? Company information and brand story.
How is your coffee? The origin, flavor profile, and roast level of the coffee.
Why choose your coffee? A specific feature or slogan.
Packaging Design
The coffee packaging bag type, packaging material, and thickness match your coffee business positioning.
The color, graphics, and design of your coffee packaging bag: incorporating product features, brand concepts, and highlighting value.
Coffee Packaging Design Examples
When exploring coffee packaging design examples, you’ll see that these brands use unique color palettes and bag designs to communicate their brand values and highlight the quality of the coffee beans.
Peets Navigator series coffee is in black, blue, and curry as the main colors, with the graphic of an explorer sailing a ship, and the coffee beans emerging from the waves. It highlights the brand’s value of always exploring quality coffee and implanting the concept that its quality coffee beans come from four major origins: Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, and Ethiopia.
Seesaw Creative Coffee Beans feature vivid, minimalist illustrations that visually represent the different flavors of coffee. Using its iconic cup icon paired with various fruits and sweets to create different flavor combinations, it allows consumers to choose based on their preference
Tasogare Coffee adopts a minimalist packaging style with a Bohemian-inspired pattern of alternating blue and pink, showcasing the brand’s logo and coffee bean including region, varietal, processing method, roast, elevation, and tasting notes information. Equipped with a reusable zip seal and a one-way exhaust valve, it maintains the freshness of the coffee beans.
Choosing the Right Coffee Packaging Machine
When you’re choosing the right coffee packaging machine, options like the Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) machine, Premade Pouch Packaging Machine, and Sachet Packaging Machine offer different capabilities to meet your coffee business’s packaging needs.
Vertical Form Fill Seal Machine
The vertical form fill seal (VFFS) machine is suitable for packaging various coffee types such as pillow bags, gusseted bags, flat bottom bags, stabilo bags, and vacuum bags.
It forms these bags by shaping multi-layered composite films into rolls, then measures the weight or volume of coffee using a combination scale (for whole beans) or auger filler (for ground coffee) weighing system, seals them, and creates complete coffee packaging bags.
Changing the bag former can produce gusseted bags, flat-bottom bags, and pillow bags. Meet your coffee business’s different bag needs.
Optional features: nitrogen gas flushing, vacuum sealing, and one-way degassing valves.
Premade Pouch Packaging Machine
If you’re looking for a better packaging experience and have a sufficient budget, we recommend choosing pre-made bag packaging
For automated packaging of pre-made pouches with zipper lock, such as stand-up pouches and flat bottom bags, favored by coffee businesses, the machine is designed to automatic feeding & pick up bags, fill coffee into pouches, then seal & output.
This machine is compatible with combination scales, auger fillers dosing, and weighing systems, enabling fully automated packaging of your coffee beans and ground coffee.
To achieve vacuum sealing, can be paired with a vacuum generator or vacuum pump. Additionally, an inflation device can be added to fill the bags with inert gases such as nitrogen.
Sachet Pakcaging Machine
The compact vertical form fill seal machine measures the weight or volume of coffee powder using an auger filler, then forms rolls of multi-layered composite films into bags.
It is suitable for packaging small sachet bag of instant coffee powder, such as three-side seal, four-side seal, and stick packs, and can include features like tear notches, pour spouts, various seal styles, and hang holes.
Exploring Automation Solutions for Your Coffee Packaging Process
Let’s take a look together at these successful coffee packaging case studies and videos to understand their packaging process, evaluate your coffee production, and packaging workflow.
Solutions include premade pouch packaging solutions for whole coffee beans in zippered pouches; vertical form fill and seal bagging for coffee in Stabilo valve bag and filling ground coffee into small sachet.
Composed of Z shape bucket loading conveyor with vibratory feeder, Weigher platform with stair unit, Multi-head weighing system, Automatic bag making Machine, an Inclined take-away conveyor, and accessories units, the coffee beans packaging machine offers you fast and accurate packaging as well as easy operation.
Customer Success Packing example: Stabilo Bag & Vent Valve—Coffee Powder
Automatic Coffee filling and sealing machine for Stabilo bags: VFJ-420.
Packing coffee powder, milk powder, flour, etc. The client is from Honduras.
We offer coffee packaging design, film design and manufacturing, and packaging machine manufacturing, to offer a complete set of packaging lines.
Customer Success Packing example: Premade Zipper Pouch—Coffee Powder / Coffee beans
Automatic Coffee filling and sealing machine for Premade Pouch: JRM.
Packing ground coffee, coffee powder, and whole beans. The client is from Mexico.
With rapid stable performance. Suitable for a large variety of bags in all shapes, such as stand-up pouch, Doy-pack, zip-pouch, three / four-side sealing pouch, gusset bag, etc. Have the Packing, Sealing, Switch zipper function, and so on.
Customer Success Packing example: Vacuum Brick Bag—Coffee Powder
Automatic Coffee filling and sealing machine for Vacuum Brick Bag: VFZ-520.
Packing coffee powder, milk powder, flour, etc. The client is from Egypt.
Vibration, pressing, reforming, vacuuming, sealing, cutting, smoothing, and conveying such chief processing steps, result in getting a nice bag shape and appropriate vacuum degree.
Need help planning your coffee packaging and production?
We offer coffee packaging design, film design and manufacturing, and packaging machine manufacturing, to offer a complete set of packaging lines.
We can help you to design a wide range of coffee packaging for many different bagging filling ground coffee, coffee powder, and whole bean, all kinds of coffee.
Solutions include premade pouch packaging solutions for whole coffee beans in zippered pouches; vertical form fill and seal bagging for coffee in gusseted valve bags and filling ground coffee into small sachets.
Our packaging machines meet your coffee packaging needs.
Evaluate your coffee design and packaging project today!
FAQ
What are the current trends in the coffee packaging industry?
Compared to traditional coffee packaging, modern coffee packaging places more emphasis on the following aspects:
Color: Bright colors and gradient colors are predominant.
Composition: Designs with a sense of hierarchy are emphasized.
Printing technology: The main trends are digitalization and customized printing.
Materials: There is a gradual shift towards sustainability and environmental friendliness.
How do coffee powder humidity and packaging environment humidity impact packaging?
High humidity can cause coffee powder to stick, leading to difficulties in the packaging process. Conversely, low humidity helps maintain the aroma and freshness of coffee powder. We recommend a packaging environment with a temperature below 25 degrees Celsius and relative humidity below 60%.
What is the difference between coffee film packaging and pre-made bag packaging?
Film packaging involves sealing coffee in pre-formed film to create bags, offering greater flexibility at lower costs. Pre-made bags are used for coffee packaging, with a wide range of bag types and better packaging effects, suitable for premium coffee.
How can packaging protect coffee from external factors like light and oxygen?
Usually, multi-layer composite film or aluminum foil is used as the material for bags, equipped with functions like one-way exhaust valves, nitrogen flushing, vacuum sealing, etc., to prevent coffee oxidation and maintain freshness.
How do vacuum-sealed bags compare to other types of coffee packaging?
Vacuum packaging for coffee removes air, ensuring optimal freshness but comes with higher packaging costs.
How does immediate packaging benefit coffee quality?
Because roasted coffee beans or processed coffee powder are exposed to air, their aroma and flavor can dissipate over time. Therefore, timely packaging is necessary to maintain coffee freshness. However, fresh coffee beans require degassing time, and coffee packaging with one-way exhaust valves allows carbon dioxide to escape, preserving coffee quality.
