Ever noticed that you can smell your coffee beans, long before you&#;ve opened the pack? The aromas seem to still find their way to your nose. A vacuum pack of ground coffee on the contrary doesn&#;t smell like coffee at all &#; unless you open it of course.
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Why can you smell the coffee beans? And not the ground coffee? Shouldn&#;t they both be sealed hermetically to preserve the aromas? Turns out, no! That is, if you don&#;t want your bag of beans exploding!
So before we continue. Do you have a pack of coffee beans nearby? Grab it, and have a look.
Notice a slight round unevenness somewhere on the bag? It might be at the front, or the back.
That&#;s a valve and it&#;s there for a good reason. To prevent exploding bags. And, it allows you to smell your coffee. So, what&#;s going on here? Why would your bag of coffee even be tempted to explode?
See that circle in the white plastic within the green circle? That&#;s the valve we&#;re looking for.
Why package coffee beans?
Yes, manufacturers package coffee beans to make it easier to transport them. To ensure that your cart isn&#;t full of loose coffee beans, when going to the supermarket. And to ensure that they don&#;t pick up dust and dirt along the way. But transport is just one reason why manufacturers package coffee.
Packaging also serves to keep coffee beans, ground or whole, as fresh as possible.
Unroasted coffee beans, notice the green colour
Don&#;t let the roast escape
You&#;re most likely buying coffee beans that have been roasted. Roasting coffee beans transform a green, quite bland coffee bean, into a brown bean full of flavor and aroma. During roasting a range of chemical reactions, including the Maillard reaction, are the cause of these transformations.
Some of these newly formed flavorful molecules aren&#;t that stable. They evaporate easily. It is what allows us to smell them. They leave the bean, and enter the air in our noses. If we&#;d leave roasted beans without any protection, they would quickly lose a lot of these aromas. That results in stale coffee.
Proper coffee packaging helps prevent those aromas from escaping from the coffee.
Use a good barrier
To ensure the aromas don&#;t leave the coffee, you will have to use a material that doesn&#;t let these molecules pass through.
Examples of suitable materials are metal cans, or laminated packaging materials. Laminated films are made up of several layers of material, often containing a thin metal layer. Every layer has its own role. Some provide strength to the pack, others, such as the metal layer, serve as a barrier for roast molecules.
These materials are great from a shelf life perspective. However, these do tend to be almost impossible to recycle. It is not possible to easily separate those layers again.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you&#;ll find paper bags. These bags are not good at keeping flavors in. Instead, gas molecules can freely move in and out of a package. You can easily smell the coffee flavor through your paper bag.
Keep oxygen out
You shouldn&#;t just keep the flavors inside. You should also make sure that the flavors of a coffee bean aren&#;t affected by outside factors.
A common &#;enemy&#; of fresh foods is oxygen. Oxygen can cause foods to oxidize. This can result in the formation of undesirable flavors, or a loss of flavor.
Especially vulnerable for oxidation are unsaturated fats. Coffee contains some fat, which as a result can turn rancid. By creating a pack in which oxygen cannot enter, the quality of the coffee beans will stay good for a longer period of time.
Good quality coffee beans, makes good quality coffee, that&#;s definitely true for cold brew coffee as well.
See the holes?
Don&#;t let the bag explode!
So an important role of packaging coffee is to ensure it remains fresh and full of flavor for a longer period of time.
But, there is another crucial factor that coffee bean packaging designers need to keep in mind. One that we&#;ve mentioned earlier: the bag shouldn&#;t explode!
Explode? But why would a bag even be able to explode? To explain, we need to have a closer look at coffee beans.
Coffee beans are porous
Remember that a coffee bean starts out on a plant. As such, it is made of sturdy plant cells that are made out of a strong outer cell wall. Within, they also contain a big bag of water, a vacuole.
During roasting, you&#;re not just developing flavor in a bean, you&#;re also drying the bean further. Coffee beans are strong, so they don&#;t collapse. But, all these individual pockets of water do dry out. As a result, a roasted coffee bean is quite porous. If you&#;d cut one open and look at it under a microscope you&#;d find a lot of small holes.
Gases are trapped during roasting
During roasting a lot of chemical reactions take place. During these reactions, carbon dioxide (CO2) gas is formed. The release of these gases can even continue for quite some time after roasting.
However, these gases don&#;t all immediately leave the bean. Instead, they can be trapped within the porous structure of the bean and will need some time to leave the bean. Darker roasts and faster roasting processes generally result in more gas formation.
As a result, for quite some time after roasting, gases continue to leave from those beans. If you&#;d package the beans in an air-tight pack, all those gases would be trapped. The pack will puff up more and more, much like blowing up a balloon. At some point, the bag might even explode!
Freshly roasted coffee beans, notice how they&#;d dried out?
Let the gases escape
When packaging coffee beans it is thus very important to be aware of the release of all these gases. There are roughly three ways that manufacturers can cope with these escaping gases:
- Leave the beans to degas so the majority of those gases have left the coffee beans before they&#;re packed. This may take a few hours, up to a few days. The majority of gases will escape in the first few days, with quantities flattening out over time.
- Pack the beans in a pack that can resist some pressure. Some degassing is likely still necessary, but when using a pack that can withstand some pressure you need to degas for a shorter amount of time.
- Use a pack that lets the gas out easily. However, that generally also means that your flavour molecules will disappear easily. This is best for shorter shelf lifes.
- Use a pack that lets gases out, but doesn&#;t let anything else come in! This is where that little hole, or valve inside your coffee pack comes it. It&#;s a one-way ticket for carbon dioxide to escape!
- Grind the coffee. By grinding the coffee you&#;re breaking down the porous structure of the coffee beans. As a result, the excess gases can escape a lot more quickly.
Some types of coffee are always made with ground coffee, Turkish coffee is just one of many examples.
Here&#;s what happens if the valve isn&#;t working well. The bag on the right side was completely closed, causing it to blow up by excess gas within. The bag on the left had a functioning air valve through which the gases could flow to the outside.
Types of coffee bean packaging
Knowing this you can now start looking for suitable packaging. You have several options:
- Paper bag
- Airtight packaging (e.g. a plastic bag)
- Airtight packaging with a one-way valve (allowing gases to escape)
- Vacuum packaging
- Metal cans
So which pack is best? There is no one best method, but there are best methods for several most common use cases!
Choosing packaging for any product can be one of the more challenging aspects of scaling up production. Your paper bag might no longer suffice and you need something else. We&#;ve written a pacakging guide to help you along the process.
Paper &#; Buy it and use it
If you buy or make coffee that will be used within as little as a few days, there is no need to use special packaging to prolong shelf life. A paper bag will serve you just fine. The beans can degas without any issues and not enough time passes for the flavors to get lost or the oxygen to do its work in oxidation. Paper is also cheap and easy to recycle.
Airtight + one-way valve &#; Optimal freshness
If you need to store your coffee beans for a longer period of time, a pack with a one-way valve is the way to go. This pack allows you to pack the beans quite quickly after you&#;ve roasted them. That way, you&#;re able to keep a lot of that flavor within and protect them from oxygen.
A major disadvantage is the recyclability of these packages, which is noticeably worse than that of a paper bag.
Airtight + time &#; A compromise
If you don&#;t want to or can&#;t use the one-way valve but want a longer shelf life than the paper bag, a &#;regular&#; closed bag is fine. However, you have to wait longer to pack these beans. You have to make sure that all that carbon dioxide has had a chance to escape.
Vacuum packs
In vacuum packs, the air has been pulled out of the pack. This slows down flavor losses &#; there&#;s no oxygen to oxidize the coffee. But, it is not a good measure against exploding packs. Gases in beans can still be released, causing the pack to puff up.
It&#;s why vacuum packs are mostly used for ground coffee. Since ground coffee is also more prone to losing its flavor over time, the extra vacuum protection helps it stay fresh longer.
Another common option (depending on where you live) is to find ground coffee stored in metal cans. These provide some sturdiness and again aren&#;t very well penetrable for any gases.
What to do once the pack is open?
No matter how advanced the pack, at some point, you have to open it up and start using those beans. But, you probably won&#;t use them all at the same time though. What to do?
First of all, don&#;t buy too much at once. If it takes you 6 months to finish a bag, that&#;s a waste of coffee. Better buy smaller portions more frequently.
That said, once you&#;ve opened the bag of coffee, it&#;s generally best to store it in an airtight container. There is one exception. If your coffee beans have been roasted recently, they might still release carbon dioxide gases. If so, do not fully close the packaging to allow air to escape, close after a couple of days.
And, of course, enjoy your coffee!
Featured content:Printed Non Woven Bags: Stylish Sustainability Solution
Sustainable Laminating Films vs Traditional: Which Is Better?You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Hualei.
Once a coffee bean pack has been opened it is best to store them airtight, for example in a glass jar.
References
Inspirationfeed, 30 Stimulating & Creative Coffee Packaging Designs, July-12, , link ; for design inspiration!
Ohl, Danielle, Are One-Way Valves Right for Your Coffee Packaging Process?, Viking Masek, April-15, , link
Roasting House, What kind of packaging is best for freshly roasted coffee?, , link ; a nice experiment between packaging types, but they only tested a shelf life of 7 days
Sage, Emma, What is the Shelf Life of Roasted Coffee? A Literature Review on Coffee Staling, SCA (Specialty coffee assocation), Feb-15, , link
Samo Smrke, Marco Wellinger, Tomonori Suzuki, Franz Balsiger, Sebastian E. W. Opitz, and Chahan Yeretzian, Time-Resolved Gravimetric Method To Assess Degassing of Roasted Coffee, J. Agric. Food Chem., 66, &#;, link
Niya Wang, Physicochemical Changes of Coffee Beans During Roasting, Guelph University Thesis, link
Your coffee bean packaging does more than protect it from the elements while it travels from your roastery to your customers. It also serves as their first encounter with your business &#; and first impressions count.
Finding someone to create your packaging for you is relatively simple. However, you&#;ll need to understand the value and function of specialty coffee packaging to make sure that what is created preserves your coffee&#;s freshness, while accurately and positively presenting it to the public.
To find out what roasters need to know about designing packaging for their specialty coffee, I spoke with Mark Zhou, Founder and CEO of MTPak Coffee, a business that creates and customizes packaging for specialty coffee roasters. Here&#;s what he had to say about creating a packaging solution that balances protective benefits and customer appeal.
Everything from your packaging structure to the colours you use will impact how it&#;s viewed by customers.
The Psychology Behind Successful Packaging
Plenty of research has been dedicated to how packaging influences consumer purchasing decisions and brand perceptions. Last year, the University of Melbourne&#;s School of Agriculture and Food conducted a study into the effects of packaging design on sensory liking and willingness to purchase in customers.
The study revealed that customers consider your packaging type (shapes, materials, windows), branding (patterns, textures, color combinations, transparencies, fonts, and imagery) and content (labels, origin, dates, contact details) when purchasing from you.
This means that when customers are exposed to your coffee for the first time, all the elements above will collectively shape their view of your coffee &#; and that they will need to combine harmoniously. Here&#;s why your packaging material, structure, use of color and font, and more are some of the elements that you should pay attention to.
You may also like Roasted Coffee Packaging: The Different Bags You Can Choose From
The bottom of your coffee bag offers valuable marketing space &#; even if you just add your brand name and logo to it.
Choosing The Right Bag Structure
The process of designing packaging for your coffee beans starts with the bag&#;s structure. This will shape how much information and detail you can share on your packaging, so you&#;ll need to decide what you want your customer to know about your offering. If your brand is well known you might prominently display your logo. If not, you&#;ll need to highlight your coffee&#;s attributes, such as its roast profile, origin, and recommended brewing methods.
If your coffee possesses any unique qualities, mention it here. Highlight an exclusive micro lot with a photo of the producer and their farm, or include information on how purchasing the coffee directly benefits farmers. Words aren&#;t always necessary, as quality stamps or certification logos can also imply a certain level of transparency and social responsibility &#; telling your customer that their coffee is organic, sustainably produced, and authenticated as coming from its origin.
You&#;ll need to decide what information goes where, as your packaging has many sides on which to display messages. According to Mark, &#;Coffee bags can have two to seven sides, without counting additional features, such as a card slot&#;. This means that it will have space on its traditional laterals (two or four), bottom, inside, and top, for images or copy.
Mark mentions that flat-bottom pouches have stable external and internal printable surfaces. Interior printing adds an element of surprise or can be used to highlight the color of the beans by providing a colorful contrast to their roast color. This could potentially pique a customer&#;s curiosity about what your other coffee bags might have in store for them.
A card slot can hold everything from a business card with your shop address, to a card that can be stamped with every purchase for a future discount.
If the printing space on the inside and outside isn&#;t enough, you can add a card slot. This works well with stand up pouches which often provide less marketing space. The card should be informative and visually appealing so the customer is motivated to keep it after disposing of the bag. For example, you could create collectable cards for each origin of coffee in your range, or include a dated card reminding the customer when they&#;re due to purchase their next coffee bag. This will make your brand and coffee more memorable.
If you&#;re looking for packaging that combines added print and storage space, side-gusseted bags &#;are spacious pouches [that] offer options for unique designs to communicate your story to customers while maintaining a strong, solid structure&#;, says Mark. The main advantage of this structure is that the gussets can expand, acquiring a more box-shaped form. In order to enhance its capacity, foil ties are used for sealing the bags (instead of zippers that can be seen on flat-bottom bags). This option is suitable for larger volumes of coffee, and for customers wanting more control over their coffee&#;s freshness.
Once you&#;ve chosen the ideal structure for your packaging and what information you&#;d like to communicate on it, you can turn your attention towards your choice of material.
Showing is better than telling. Offer customers a sneak peek of your roast profile using clear windows or a transparent bottom.
Choosing The Right Bag Material
Mark tells me that different packaging materials exist and each has a different appearance, texture, and durability &#; which may or may not suit your coffee and your brand. How your packaging material feels to the touch is also important. Research published by the Journal of Sensory Studies has found that packaging texture can impact a customer&#;s product perceptions and even their enjoyment of the product itself
Whichever option you choose, it will need to align with your brand values and audience. Mark explains that an eco-friendly material like sustainably sourced, 100% natural kraft paper or rice paper can show that your business strives towards healthy environmental practices, from coffee production to retail packaging. However, each option will come with its own caveats. For example, these kinds of natural materials must often be used in layers for long term protection of its contents.
Your material choice will also impact your printing. &#;Some patterns might look better or different on different materials,&#; says Mark. The printing technique used should be noted, as Mark says this can include &#;water-based inks and various techniques, including spot varnish, UV craft, embossing, and debossing. This [can] create an array of effects and finishes&#;.
Keeping your packaging colours simple and using large, easy to read text makes your coffee easy to identify at a distance &#; and more accessible to customers.
Choosing The Right Colors & Typography
The brand guidelines you created when you first started your coffee roastery will have included a selection of colors, fonts, and imagery &#; which you&#;ve no doubt chosen as it represents what your business is about or who your audience is.
Your packaging will need to integrate your brand&#;s existing colors and fonts. However, if you will be selling several items in your product range, you might need to vary your use of colors or typography to ensure each one is easily differentiated from the rest. For example, you might keep your packaging red in line with your branding, but italicize the font on all coffees originating from Kenya.
You could also tailor your use of color to match your coffee&#;s various profiles? For example, does the coffee in question have a citrusy, bright profile? Adding a splash of orange to its design can increase its chances of being noticed and associate it with its cup profile. Are you selling exclusive auction coffees? Mark says that you can bring a touch of exclusivity and luxury by adding metallic lettering.
More sure that your choice of fonts and colors work with your packaging&#;s size, structure, and material. For example, italics can work well on sample pouches for end consumers but might be invisible when placed on a one-kilogram side-gusseted bag.
Accessibility is also something you need to consider. While you want your coffee to be easy to recognize when placed on a shelf with other coffee bags, your coffee bags also need to be easy to use. Packaging should be user-friendly and easy to open and close, where applicable to your audience. For example, many people might find zipper bags easier to operate than ones with foil ties.
By adding gold snowflakes to their coffee packaging, the brand is visually communicating that their coffee was created for the festive season.
Don&#;t Forget About Sustainable Packaging
Modern packaging options means that it&#;s never been easier to create something that preserves the flavors and aromas you&#;ve worked hard to showpiece during roasting while taking into account the environment.
However, as Millennial and Generation Z aged consumers continue to dominate the beverage market, they&#;re increasingly demanding more transparency and ethics from product labels and packaging. &#;We are constantly exploring packaging solutions that are recyclable or biodegradable,&#; Mark tells me. &#;It&#;s important to us, our clients, and coffee consumers.&#;
This is something that you will need to consider at every point, and it goes beyond communicating how your coffee was harvested and processed in an environmentally friendly manner. Mark suggests that you clearly communicate details on your eco-friendly packaging on your labels. For example, you can add a brief guide on how to dispose of the bag correctly or mention how recycling it saves natural resources.
Using recyclable kraft paper for your packaging can communicate your brand&#;s commitment to eco-friendliness without saying a word.
Whether you&#;re designing your packaging from start to finish or entrusting the process to someone else, Mark stresses the importance of communicating openly with your packaging supplier, as they should provide you with support from concept and design to manufacturing, printing, and delivery. They should also allow you to explore their manufacturing processes and request samples.
Managing this kind of relationship isn&#;t easy when you&#;re managing a roastery full time. However, if you partner with a packaging supplier that shares your values and passion for coffee, you can rest assured that your ideas will get turned into three-dimensional objects that help your business thrive.
Photo credits: Allie Smith, MTPak Coffee, Neil Soque, Calvin Craig.
Please note: This article has been sponsored by MTPak Coffee
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