How To Choose The Right Filling Machine For Different Coffee Pouches?

The story of coffee can be traced back several generations, spanning more than 1,000 years, and there is still no conclusive conclusion about its origin. The story of coffee is the journey of a brown seed, full of mystery and wonder. But about the origin place of coffee, people all over the world are quite sure that the first coffee tree seed grew on the slope of a fractured river valley in Ethiopia, Africa. It is said that the original name of the coffee is also taken from a nearby small town called “Coffa” Town.

Ethiopia is located at 6º to 9º north latitude, between 34º and 40º east longitude, tropical climate, it is the center of the Horn of Africa. The local rainy season is from June to September, from October to January is the dry season, the light rainy season is from February to May, it has the climate and land conditions for the growth of coffee.

Under the influence of Christianity, there are many monasteries and churches built by missionaries in Ethiopia, the shadow of suspected coffee beans can also be found in many religious books. In the speculation of history fans, the so-called “black soup” of the Spartans in the Old Testament and the “worry-forgetting medicine” in “Odyssey” trying to drive away sadness and anger, it is very likely that it was the name of coffee at the time.

Thanks to the popularity of Starbucks, more and more people are in love with coffee. However, few people know that coffee beans are actually the fruit of a tree, it grows on a tree.

The coffee tree, a perennial evergreen shrub or small tree of Rubiaceae, is a horticultural perennial economic crop. It has the characteristics of fast-growing, high-yield, high value, and wide sales. Wild coffee trees can grow to 5 to 10 meters tall, but the coffee trees planted in the manor are often cut to a height that is less than 2 meters in order to increase the yield and facilitate harvesting.

It takes about 3-5 years from sowing, transplanting seedlings to growing into trees, the 5-20th year is the production period. Climate is the decisive factor for coffee planting. Coffee trees are only suitable for growing in the tropics or subtropics. Therefore, the area between 25 degrees north and south latitude is most suitable for planting coffee.

There are more than 500 types of coffee trees and 6000 varieties, most of which are tropical trees and shrubs. There are three main coffee trees in the world, only two types among them that have real commercial value and are planted in large numbers, the quality of the coffee beans produced is also higher than the coffee beans produced by other coffee plants.

Arabica species, Robusta species, and Liberian species, three are called “three native species of coffee”. Arabica beans account for 70% of the world’s production, the world-famous Blue Mountain coffee and Mocha coffee are almost all Arabica. The other one is Robusta, the origin of the Robusta coffee tree is in the Congo, Africa, and its output accounts for about 20% to 30% of the world’s output. Liberia coffee is only traded and sold domestically in some West African countries (Libya, Côte d’Ivoire, etc.), or is grown for research purposes.

Different varieties of coffee beans have different flavors, but even the same varieties of coffee trees, due to the influence of different soils and different climates, the coffee beans grown have their own unique flavors. Coffee is a drink made from roasted coffee beans. It is the main drink popular in the world along with cocoa and tea.

Coffee classification is usually based on defect rate, bean mesh size, altitude, green bean density, processing standards, and so on. There are three main internationally mainstream coffee grading methods – according to the screen, according to the altitude of the coffee production area, according to the ratio of sieve and defective beans.

Coffee beans can be sold after being roasted and ground into powder after packaging. The four major factors that affect coffee preservation include light, oxygen, humidity, and temperature. Therefore, it is better to keep these four factors as low as possible during storage.

The main quality changes of coffee are the volatilization of aromatic components and the changes of volatile components caused by moisture and oxygen. As the aroma changes, the coffee gradually ages, spoils, and produces a cocoa odor. At this time, it can be considered that the coffee has deteriorated and failed. The increase in the temperature and humidity of the coffee storage environment will accelerate this deterioration.

Coffee is easy to volatilize and lose its aroma, and the oil and aroma components in it are susceptible to oxidation, especially when it is damp, which will accelerate its damage. Therefore, the packaging of coffee must exclude oxygen and must prevent the volatilization of aromatic components from the packaging and the absorption of peculiar smells from the outside.

After opening the package, the coffee is exposed to the air, and its quality will soon drop. The roasted and ground coffee must be separated from the atmosphere to avoid the influence of external oxygen, light, and humidity, and the loss of its ingredients should be minimized.

Of course, the most ideal is to lower the storage temperature of coffee to slow down its biochemical reaction and volatilization speed, but cold storage is unrealistic commercially. In addition, the coffee powder particles are hard and sharp, and the packaging material is required to have sufficient abrasion resistance and puncture strength.

Therefore, when packaging coffee, pay attention to the following four characteristics of packaging materials:

(1). Moisture-proof

When coffee is damp, it will accelerate its deterioration rate.

(2). Anti-oxidation

The oil and aroma components in coffee are easily oxidized when encountering oxygen.

(3). Gas obstruction

Ordinary coffee is easy to volatilize, resulting in the loss of aromatic components, and is easily affected by peculiar smells. Therefore, the packaging of ordinary coffee must avoid spilling aromatic gases from the packaging and absorbing peculiar smells from the outside. Therefore, the packaging material should have sufficient gas barrier properties.

(4). Anti-high temperature

Under high-temperature conditions, the biochemical reaction and volatilization speed of coffee will be accelerated.

Bagged coffee has become the mainstream trend of coffee packaging, In the food packaging that appears on the shelves of major supermarkets, plastic flexible packaging occupies a dominant position. The reason why plastic flexible packaging is so prosperous is that it has many advantages of its own.

(1). There are many types of plastic flexible packaging, it not only overcomes the shortcomings of glass fragility, but also has the portability of paper, and also makes up for the shortcomings of paper being easily damp.

(2). The barrier properties of different plastic materials are very different.

The plastic stretch film that composes the composite material can achieve high barrier effects against oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, and odors.

(3). Oil and moisture resistant.

It can withstand high-temperature cooking at 120℃, low-temperature freezing, and can maintain quality, freshness, and odor.

(4). The cost of plastic packaging is relatively low.

Compared with glass packaging, the same barrier effect should be achieved. The plastic film has a greater cost advantage.

(5). Flexible structural design.

The use of different structural designs can meet your quality assurance requirements for different products.

(6). High strength.

The film of the composite material has the characteristics of stretching during the processing, there is no delamination and peeling phenomenon, the flexibility is good, and the heat sealing performance is excellent.

(6). Smaller capacity ratio.

Vacuum shrink packaging can be used for co-extruded film, and the volume-to-volume ratio is nearly 100%, which is unmatched by the glass, tin cans, and paper packaging.

• Stand up pouch

According to the different sealing methods at the bottom of the bag, there are three types of bottom gussets for stand-up pouches – K seal, round bottom, and plow bottom. The stand-up pouch with round bottom is the most popular type in the food and non-food packaging. The round bottom is sealed from the left and right sides of the bag at an angle of 30 degrees. Both K-seal and round bottom have gussets, but the gussets of the plow bottom are not sealed.

Different types of stand-up bags with different bottom sealing methods have different maximum supporting weights. Stand-up pouches can be filled manually or by fully automated machines. The stand-up pouches can also add some functional small components, such as tear notch opening, a hanging buckle, zipper, and visual window.

• Flat bottom gusset pouch

The flat bottom gusset bags, also called box pouch, is an improvement on the basis of the standard stand-up pouch. But compared with the film used in standard stand-up pouches, it can be reduced by up to 15% and can hold more capacity. Its bottom is square or rectangular, and there are gussets on the left and right sides and the bottom of the bag. After the materials are filled, a triangular support structure will be formed on both sides of the bag, the bottom gusset bag will have a larger volume than the side gusset bag of the same volume.

Related tests have shown that people’s preference for bottom gussets is greater than that of bags with gussets on the sides, so this kind of bag is very popular in the coffee packaging industry! It is strong and durable, and is suitable for packaging large amounts of coffee. If you choose to pack coffee with larger specifications, such as a five-pound package, this kind of bag is more suitable.

The flat bottom gusset pouch has a total of 5 sides, and more product or company information can be printed to improve product competitiveness. Because all 8 sides of the flat-bottom bag must be sealed, it is the most expensive pre-made pouch type. You can consider to use some add-ons when designing the bag, such as easy tear opening, straight easy tear opening line, visualization window, one-way air valve, bag hole, handle hole.

• Side Gusset Pouch

The gussets of the side gusset pouch are located on both sides of the bag, and there are vertical seals from top to bottom. There are two planes, front and back, which are display areas for product images, brands, and graphic art aesthetics. The more popular add-ons of side gusset pouch include tear notch, straight tear north line, one-way air valve, pouch hole, and handle hole.

• Three Sides Seal Bag

The three-side sealing bag is a kind of flat bag, that is, the bag has two side seals, and the top of the bag is open for filling materials. After filling the material, you can use a semi-automatic pouch sealing machine or a fully automatic packaging machine to complete the top sealing. The bottom edge of the bag is formed by horizontal bending of plastic film, the sealing on all sides is made by heat sealing the inner layer material of the plastic film. With the same length and width, the volume of the three-side seal bag is larger than that of the four-side seal bags.

• Four-Side Seal Bag

The four-side seal bag refers to a bag where the top and bottom, left and right sides of the bag are sealed. This type of bag has no gussets and is a flat bag.

• Pillow Pouch

Pillow pouches are also called back-seal bags, they are composed of bottom, top and back seals. It is one of the most economical packaging forms widely used in the food industry. There is a T-shaped seal on the back or the center of the bag, extending to the top and bottom of the bag.

Coffee manufacturers should consider the size and type of packing bags according to the types of users and coffee varieties. Different coffee pouches use different filling machines.

• Stand-up Pouch

This kind of bag belongs to the pre-made pouch, the finished bag, it can be filled with a semi-automatic coffee pouch filling machine or an automatic coffee pouch filling machine. If you have many sizes of coffee bags, however, the packaging output requirements are not high, you can consider using a manual coffee pouch filling machine.

We have 2 models of semi-automatic coffee powder pouch filling machines – SF-02 and SF-JD. SF-02 has no limit on the filling container, it can fill various 5-5000g (need to change different screws) bottled, canned, or bagged coffee. SF-JD is a manual powder pouch filling machine specially used for packaging premade pouches, suitable for packaging powders in bags above 1000g (1000g-5000g). The manual coffee powder pouch filling machine needs to manually place the bag at the discharge port, and control the unloading through a photoelectric switch or a footswitch.

If your coffee bag specifications are less, The bag size is single, the filling output is relatively large, it is recommended to use SF-GD-250 or SG-GD-300 automatic coffee pouch filling and sealing machine, it is a highly automated powder pouch filling machine, mainly composed of an automatic powder filling machine, a set auger metering device, a screw conveyor, and a special vacuum cleaner(optional).

Adjusting the bag width is controlled by a motor. Press the control button to automatically adjust the clamping width of the bag, which is easy to operate and saves time. You just need to input the corresponding data on the large color touch screen, the machine can automatically adjust the packaging speed, sealing temperature, etc.

If your coffee bag specifications are less, The bag size is single, the filling output is relatively large, it is recommended to use SF-GD-250 or SG-GD-300 automatic coffee pouch filling and sealing machine, it is a highly automated powder pouch filling machine, mainly composed of an automatic powder filling machine, a set auger metering device, a screw conveyor, and a special vacuum cleaner(optional).

Adjusting the bag width is controlled by a motor. Press the control button to automatically adjust the clamping width of the bag, which is easy to operate and saves time. You just need to input the corresponding data on the large color touch screen, the machine can automatically adjust the packaging speed, sealing temperature, etc.

SF-GD coffee pouch filling and sealing machine adopts the latest German PLC control system, using frequency converter for speed changing. The main motor, PLC, frequency converter, sensors, relays, contactors, and pneumatic components are all internationally renowned brands. The equipment is equipped with a safety protection door, which is made of transparent plexiglass.

When operating the machine, you only need to put the premade coffee pouches in the place to store the bag, the machine will automatically complete the whole packaging process of taking bags, automatic coding, weighing, filling, sealing, and conveying.

Our automatic coffee powder pouch filling and sealing machine meets the hygienic standards of food processing machinery, the parts on the machine that come into contact with materials and packaging bags are all processed with materials that meet food hygiene requirements to ensure food hygiene and safety.

• Flat Bottom Gusset Pouch, Side Gusset Pouch

For bags with gussets on the sides or gussets at the bottom, the recommended machine is the same as the pre-made pouches. If you want to use manual coffee filling machines, suitable models are SF-02 and SF-JD. If you want to use an automatic coffee packaging machine, SF-GD is recommended.

• Three Sides Seal Bag, Four Sides Seal Bag

If the type of bag is a plastic stretch film, not the premade pouch, the recommended machine models are SF-280, SF-350, SF-420, SF-520 machines. This series of automatic coffee pouch filling machines belongs to the vertical form fill seal (VFFS) powder filling machine, which is distinguished according to the different widths of the finished bags.

Bag making, sealing, measuring, filling and date printing are completed at one time, instead of the entire process of manual packaging, and the packaging rate is highly improved. The horizontal and vertical sealing temperatures are controlled independently, which can be well applied to various packaging materials such as composite film and PE film.

Sywen Packaging is a professional manufacturer of coffee pouch filling machines, according to different formulas, the size of the coffee powder, and the specific filling requirements, we can not only recommend the coffee filling machine with the best configuration for you but also make a complete coffee packaging production line. For example, the coffee packaging equipment at the front end of the filling – the mixer. Primary packaging equipment, such as coffee filling machines, coffee pouch sealing machines, the weight checker and the rejection system. The box folding machine, cartooning machine, heat shrinkable sealing cutting machine, palletizing, and so on are in the secondary packaging section. If you are interested in any coffee pouch filling machine or want to get professional coffee packaging advice, please contact us immediately!