Your coffee packaging is your brand ambassador, a communicator of your company values, and what keeps your coffee fresh. It is a vital piece of your marketing and ensures the quality of your product on its journey to reach your loyal consumers. So don't treat it as an afterthought; give your coffee packaging the attention it rightfully deserves!
As you look at store shelves in the coffee section, you will likely see 5 main types of coffee packaging bags, shown below:
The flat bottom coffee bag is one of the most popular packaging formats in the coffee industry. It features a prominent shelf presence and is able to stand unassisted for maximum impact. Often the top of the bag is folded over or completely down into a brick shape and sealed.
Read about how "Death Wish Coffee" uses VFFS packaging automation to create their iconic coffee bags >>
Quad Seal Bag
A quad seal bag is also very popular in the coffee industry. This bag has crisp side seals, can stand unassisted, and is attention-grabbing for its modular look. This coffee packaging bag type holds its shape very well and can support heavier fills of coffee. The quad seal bag usually is more costly than other bag styles.
The most economical and simplistic bag type, the pillow bag is often used for fractional, single-serve coffee packaging formats. This bag style lays flat for display purposes. The pillow bag is by far the least costly to produce.
Fractional packs of coffee can be packaged bag-in-bag into a larger package for foodservice or bulk sale purposes. Modern coffee packaging machines can form, fill, and seal the smaller frac packs and subsequently package those into a larger outer wrap on a single bag-in-bag machine.
Doypack
With a flat top and a rounded, oval-shaped bottom, the Doypack or stand-up pouch differentiates itself from more typical coffee package types. It gives the consumer an impression of a premium, small-batch product. Often fitted with zippers, this coffee packaging bag type is beloved by consumers for its convenience. This bag style usually costs more than other more simple bag types.
While stand-up pouches can be created on form fill seal machines, they are much better looking when purchased premade, and then filled and sealed on an automatic pouch packing machine.
Read about how Bean Box uses a coffee pouch machine to fill and seal their premium kraft coffee bags >>
Will your product be distributed to stores, cafes, businesses, or shipped to end-users nation- or worldwide? If so, your coffee will need to stay fresh until the very end. To accomplish this, Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) options can be used.
The most popular modified atmosphere packaging system is ONE-WAY DEGASSING VALVES, which allow the natural build-up of carbon dioxide in freshly roasted coffee an escape route while not letting COFFEE FRESHNESS KILLERS like oxygen, moisture, or light inside the bag.
Other modified atmosphere packaging options include nitrogen gas flushing, which displaces oxygen in the coffee bag before filling, and use of high-barrier packaging materials. You can choose to use one type of MAP in your coffee bean packaging design or many, depending upon your needs. For most modern coffee packaging applications, all of the above are recommended.
With a busy consumer base that values their time above all, CONVENIENCE PACKAGING is all the rage in the coffee market.
Coffee roasters should consider the following options when catering to modern customers:
Modern consumers are less brand loyal than ever before and seek to purchase smaller, trial-sized packages of coffee as they explore their options. Click to Tweet
Will you be hand-filling your coffee bags or are you considering automating with COFFEE PACKAGING EQUIPMENT? If you plan to hand-fill your coffee bags, The Perfect Daily Grind recommends you choose a bag style that has a wide enough top opening to accommodate your scoop or filling apparatus. The Doypack may not be ideal in this situation as it only has two corners at its top opening, limiting the amount of room available for a filling tool. Compare this with the quad seal or flat bottom bag, which usually have four corners at their top openings and much more room to accommodate filling tools.
Also note that hand-packing, while it may have a lower cost to entry, seriously limits your throughput, accuracy, and ability to ramp up production on a moment's notice. If you already use - or are considering purchasing - automated COFFEE BAGGING EQUIPMENT, your bag options are almost unlimited.
Most modern coffee packing machines can easily accommodate multiple bag styles and sizes. Fill weights are no longer a worry as automated filling solutions can operate at a high level of accuracy. Your throughput can increase by leaps and bounds and if you suddenly receive a large order, scaling your production up is no biggie.
How long has it been since you've assessed your coffee production and packaging processes? There may be hidden inefficiencies present that are killing your business (and your roast).
Download our free Coffee Production Planning Tool for a comprehensive check-up:
Originally published 3/28/2017, updated 4/17/2018
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