The day I purchased a single-serve coffee machine changed my life. I used to use a percolator – remember those? I would brew my coffee fresh every morning, patiently waiting while it sputtered and steamed until my coffee was ready for my travel mug. But that was only for my first cup of the day - then I was off to work and the rest of the coffee was wasted. As a three-times-a-day coffee drinker that just wasn’t cutting it. So, the day I purchased my single-serve coffee machine and was able to enjoy a fresh, hot cup of coffee at any time, I was quite pleased with the convenience upgrade.
A concept that most of us users of single-serve coffee brewer systems probably don't think much about is the packaging of said coffee. We have grown accustomed to seeing these plastic coffee "pods" or capsules in our households without giving much thought to the development that occurs downstream in the supply chain to ensure that once the product arrives in our homes, it is safe, fresh and ready to use. As with all shelf-stable products, maintaining safety and quality throughout the duration of the products shelf life are key concerns in developing packaging materials for single-serve coffee and tea items. However, additional safety considerations as a result of Proposition 65 that are effecting material choices for these products, as well as increasing sustainability and recyclability concerns, add additional challenges to the mix.
Continue reading to learn more about some of the key considerations when developing single-serve tea & coffee pod packaging solutions and how ICPG can help.
What are the barrier requirements?
Determining the barrier requirements for single-serve coffee and tea beverage pods and capsules is an essential requirement to keeping the product fresh while providing the expected level of application performance. There are several key factors to consider in order meet these requirements including processing and environmental conditions, supply chain management, retail conditions, UV degradation, oxygen and moisture sensitivity and overall shelf life expectations. Understanding these elements are key considerations when determining the level and type of barrier required to achieve the optimal shelf-life performance.
One of the primary elements to achieving target shelf life is understanding the required OTR (Oxygen Transmission Rate) and MVTR (Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate) specifications, then developing a material structure with the appropriate barrier characteristics to protect the product throughout its desired shelf-life performance. This can range from a dry product that requires a strong moisture barrier, which could potentially be achieved using an olefin material such as PP or HDPE, to a higher performance structure achieved through a multi-layer coextrusion process leveraging materials such as EVOH to achieve the required OTR requirements. In addition to the material structure, it is critical to ensure optimal material distribution is achieved to meet the minimum barrier thickness given depth of draw and avoiding sharp angles such as bottom corners during the container design phase. Various additional factors including processing conditions, distribution method and retail conditions must all be considered when developing rollstock for high-barrier coffee pod packaging solutions.
What is the processing method?
Identifying the packaging, processing and sterilization method is key when developing material structures. Common thermoformed single-serve coffee and tea products can be used with processing and sterilization techniques such as deposit fill seal, M.A.P and component Form Fill & Seal. The packaging and processing method, along with the barrier requirements will play a significant part in determining the best material structure to maintain the safety and integrity of the product. Today’s coffee, tea and dry ingredient pods are available in both barrier polystyrene and polypropylene structures taking advantage of both oxygen and moisture protection to extend product freshness and reduce or control flavor degradation.
What is the best material choice?
Single serve brewers offer a unique challenge when considering the appropriate material and structures required to protect the product while providing the required level of functionality for the pod and brewer system. This is especially critical given the need to puncture the bottom of the container without material propagation (material splitting or fracturing). In order to meet the initial performance requirements of the single serve brewers, the material of choice focused on a PS/EVOH/PE structure, which provided the stiffness and seal requirements for the pod and bonding of the inner filter. However, with the implementation of Proposition 65, use of food contact structures using PS present challenges due to the classification of styrene as a known carcinogen. As a result, many companies are undertaking the initiative to replace food contact PS structures with more health-conscious and environmentally friendly materials by 2025. Instead, coffee pod packaging structures using innovative polypropylene materials, such as ICPG's XPP Enhanced Barrier Polypropylene, with enhanced stiffness and up to 60% improvement in barrier properties, can deliver required performance features while meeting Proposition 65 material replacement initiatives.
What materials are most sustainable?
As the global demand for sustainable and recyclable packaging solutions increases, the push to develop fully-recyclable solutions across all industries has become a top priority. Considering the sheer volume of coffee & tea pods and capsules being produced and consumed, it is no surprise that the industry is under pressure to develop a solution for their pod products that is fully recyclable and current structures produced in PS/EVOH/PE, unfortunately, do not fulfill this requirement. However, advancements in cutting-edge barrier technology for specialty polypropylene materials, can allow the right ratio of materials to achieve required barrier performance properties, while allowing for mono-material recycling (i.e. using the resin ID code (RIC) #5 vs RIC #7). Rigid PP products are also recyclable in practice - not just in concept. For several years running, PP has maintained it's spot as one of the top materials recycled and diverted for re-use into other applications in the US, whereas recovery values for other popular alternatives for rigid thermoformed packaging such as PS and PET are lacking.
Feeling inspired to brew something new with ICPG? Click on the link below to download our single-serve thermoformed coffee & tea capsule solutions info sheet to learn more about the materials, structures and capabilities available for your custom project:
