New research from a plastic packaging company has uncovered “significant performance and barrier differences” between various types and brands of coffee capsule.
Plastic Technologies found that that the Barrier Improvement Factor varied as much as 380 times across the 18 capsule samples tested. The capsules tested represented most of the major commercially available systems currently available, the company said, with brands such as Keurig, Lavazza, Nespresso and Starbucks all included.
PTI wanted to research the base materials being used, the structures they were assembled into, the resulting barrier (oxygen, water vapor transmission rates) attributes and the impact on taste to produce comprehensive analysis on the package type.
Thierry Fabozzi, managing director of PTI’s European business unit, said: “It’s important to understand… that just because a capsule type has a lower barrier, this doesn’t necessarily translate to bad taste. It really comes down to preference, oftentimes determined by specific cultures or geographic areas. Climatic storage conditions may also decrease barrier levels. But what is important is an understanding of how each performs to make sure that target audience criteria are being met in the most cost-effective way possible.”
The study also found that the way in which the capsule’s individual structural components are assembled to create the final container also impacts barrier characteristics.
For each coffee capsule type, the researchers tested variations in oxygen and water vapor permeation, overall dimensions, minimum wall thickness, active barrier surface, manufacturing process and layer structure.
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