Coffee Packaging

The specialty coffee market is one of the markets most influenced by the advancements in packaging. Barrier materials and accessories have created so many options that freshly roasted coffee beans can be enjoyed by consumers as if they came straight from the roaster.

During roasting, many chemical reactions take place that change the flavor and appearance of the bean. After coffee is roasted, the beans are allowed to cool and stabilize. This process is referred to as degassing and usually takes between 24 and 72 hours depending on the roast. You should always allow ample time for the coffee to degas before brewing as the beans need time for their flavor to even out. If ground and consumed too early, the coffee may taste too smoky or ashy.

One of the chemical reactions mentioned above causes carbon dioxide to be released from the beans. Freshly roasted coffee will emit CO2 for up to 7 days after it is roasted. Roasted coffee is sensitive to light, oxygen and moisture and because of this, finding packaging that will prevent the coffee from going stale used to be extremely difficult.

The problem was that if the beans were placed in a hermetically sealed environment, the package had a tendency to burst due to the internal pressure of the excess gases. To solve this problem, a package had to be created that allowed the gas inside the bag to escape without letting outside oxygen in. Thus, the degassing valve was invented. This small device, when applied to a foil bag or pouch, will allow freshly roasted coffee to be packaged almost immediately after roasting and will keep the product safely away from the degenerative effects of oxygen, light, and moisture. This innovation in packaging has proven industry changing and is now being used worldwide.