SÜDPACK has been exploring some of the challenges and opportunities for coffee packaging in the face of current trends including changing consumer habits, greater price sensitivity, and PPWR.
While 1kg packs of whole beans and traditional 500g vacuum packaging for ground coffee remain standard, the firm revealed that smaller formats, such as 250g packs, are becoming increasingly popular. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for ground coffee is also gaining traction in certain segments.
With coffee prices high and consumers’ purchasing power reduced, SÜDPACK said flexible packaging concepts, rapid design changes, small print runs and pack sizes, and new price points are becoming key competitive factors. At the same time, packaging is becoming a ‘brand ambassador in its own right’, helping to showcase coffee’s premium appeal. High print quality, haptic lacquers, and matte or gloss effects are said to be reinforcing this premium positioning.
For film manufacturers such as SÜDPACK, the implications are that packaging must adapt to changing trends, provide reliable product protection to preserve the coffee’s aroma, freshness, and shelf life, and meet consumer expectations for a premium product.
The PPWR is accelerating a shift in packaging away from conventional laminates toward PP or PE-based mono-material structures. Established recycling streams for both polymers already exist in many European countries. SÜDPACK explained that this raises a number of questions for coffee roasters and packers: Which films can be processed efficiently on existing machines while maintaining high throughput? How can optimal product protection be ensured? And how can regulatory and business risks be minimised?
The barrier properties of a new packaging material must match the level of protection provided by conventional aluminium laminates, which shield the aromas developed during roasting from oxygen, light, and moisture and help preserve product quality.
SÜDPACK said its CarbonLite product family offers a packaging concept that combines product safety and performance with high-quality design optimised for recyclability. With its PP-based Flow Pack, the manufacturer provides a film that can enter established recycling streams in many European countries. This mono-PP laminate can be processed on existing vertical form-fill-seal (VFFS) machines and is described as offering high sealing performance and strength. The material can be equipped with barriers against oxygen, water vapour, and UV radiation. PP-based aroma protection valves can be heat-sealed into the packaging.
In addition to its PurePP film, SÜDPACK offers a metallised version designed to make metallic effects in the print image stand out. Even without metallic effects, both materials can be enhanced with vibrant print images, using flexo print, rotogravure printing, or digital printing to suit the application and customer preferences.
SÜDPACK supports customers as they transition to new packaging concepts. The company revealed that an internal screening of coffee packaging shows that replacing a conventional 100-μm-thick PET/aluminium/PE laminate with CarbonLite PurePP film of the same thickness can reduce the overall carbon footprint by 43%.
