Why is it so important to choose packaging materials?
When the weather is cold, you will add clothes to yourself and consider the trait of each dress. Close-fitting or outermost? Is the fabric skin-friendly? How warm is it? Is it waterproof?
Similarly, you can personify coffee. We play the role of selecting each layer of “clothes” for it. So when customizing coffee bags, how should you choose the materials suitable for your coffee properties?
Focus all strengths on your coffee bag
A thin layer of the coffee bag is made of many layers of materials. This ensures that the coffee packaging is completely recyclable.
Single resins cannot replace multi resins, which can ensure complete recyclability. Different materials provide different properties. Such as printing, moisture-proof, air barrier, light-proof, puncture resistance, and heat-sealing performance. By combining them, we can not only provide better performance but also overcome their respective defects. So there will be many potential problems if using single resins.
“Three main forces”
Next, I will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of all materials in coffee bags.
The material combination includes printing film, performance strengthening film, and the innermost heat-sealing film.
Printing film——the soft landing of lines
The function of printing film is to carry ink. It must be tensile to a large extent. Otherwise, the drawing will be deformed after the printing film is stretched. There are usually three materials on the market as the printing film of coffee bags.
1. Matt Bopp——noble existence
It has a matte appearance and soft touch, which gives people a delicate feeling. So it is a symbol of high-end.
But at the same time, it also has obvious weaknesses. Its barrier is very weak, so we can’t use it as the first protective cover of a coffee bag to block air and water vapor. Besides, its surface is easy to be scratched to form an obvious trace, which is unrecoverable.
2. PET—— a plain choice
PET is the most commonly used material in coffee packaging. Its surface is very bright and its touch is very hard. Many packaging manufacturers are willing to recommend this material. The reason is that PET has low cost and low price, and its barrier performance is also very strong. These advantages will make PET a popular coffee packaging material.
3. Nylon（PA）——When the perfect material comes, everything else is a substitute.
Xiaoyupack has developed a new material – Matte PET, which can become a new perfect printing film.
Matte PET not only has the high barrier property of PET but also has the matt appearance of Matt film. Moreover, Matte PET doesn’t easily scratch. It overcomes the weakness of the matt film. Matte pet is a real high-end coffee packaging material. It will become a classic material in the end.
In some sub-zero environments, the nylon film material is more suitable than PET. Nylon has excellent low-temperature resistance, soft material, and a bright surface. So it is more expensive. Many coffee brands give up it for this. They are more willing to use PET for printing. But the materials containing nylon in multilayer packages can be recycled. Many industries can reuse recycled materials. The market recognizes the recycling value of nylon.
4. Kraft paper for Eco-friendliness， but it needs improving.
Using kraft paper as the printing layer can achieve sustainable development. But its weaknesses are also obvious. It can not achieve full-color printing. In daily life, we can recognize it through simple printing. And it is not waterproof, so kraft paper is easy to get wet by liquid. So you can’t use it many times.
Performance strengthening layer（middle layer）
It is the heart of the packaging material structure. It plays a role in providing various important properties in packaging.
1. Improve the peeling and falling strength of the package, which is the internal reason for the firmness of the bag.
2. Barrier and light-proof, which can preserve the food in the packaging bag.
These properties can extend the shelf life of your products.
There are generally three kinds of materials for middle layers, and different materials have different packaging properties.
1. VMPET
VMPET is the cheapest choice in the performance strengthening layer.
We need to electroplate aluminum powder on the pet to get this material. So, it has the advantages of pet, strong barrier and moisture-proof.
Because of the existence of aluminum, it also has a certain light shielding performance.
The surface of the bag is very flat and suitable for use as a performance reinforcing layer. So that we often see it in more product packaging combinations in our daily life. VMPET has many advantages. It is a cheap choice in daily life.
2. aluminum foil
When people talk about aluminum foil, people will doubt why metal can exist in plastics. Yes, we have realized it. More than this， we made it the most powerful. It has the best performance of all kinds of plastic materials in combination. The barrier and light avoidance are strong. But its surface is easy to wrinkle and its price is high, which makes coffee brands hesitate to choose it. After all, when you have one of its advantages, you must accept another of its disadvantages.
3. Kraft paper
The product concept of kraft paper is environmental protection and sustainable development. It is also the original intention of many people to choose it.
Yet, the waterproof and printing degree of kraft paper is poor. It is also the factor why people don’t choose it.
We put kraft paper in the middle of the material structure. Then composite a layer of printing film. Now we can realize full-color printing and achieve water resistance.
we can also compound a layer of aluminum coating on the outside of kraft paper. This can further improve the packaging performance.
Heat–sealing layer
This is the innermost material of the coffee bag. It plays the most important role in packaging. The bag needs heat-sealing during molding, it supports this performance. It also has good puncture resistance and tensile force. It determines whether the bag is easily damaged.
There are also three choices for the most inner layer
1. White PE
If you don’t want the brown coffee to blend with the brown background, you can choose white PE. Besides all the properties of clear PE， it is clear milky white. In the recyclable material structure of coffee bags， it has always been the best choice for the heat seal.2. RCPP
RCPP is a polypropylene material. If there is kraft paper in the material structure combination, RCPP must be used as the innermost heat-sealing layer of the package.
The performance of RCPP is tough, which can make the packaging stand on its own. At the same time, it is also a high-temperature resistant material. If your food needs to be stored or baked in a high-temperature environment, don‘t worry to put your food in the bag. Rcpp is safe and harmless. Rcpp passed the test of BPA Free and food grade.
2. RCPP
RCPP is a polypropylene material. If there is kraft paper in the material structure combination, RCPP must be used as the innermost heat-sealing layer of the package.
The performance of RCPP is tough, which can make the packaging stand on its own. At the same time, it is also a high-temperature resistant material. If your food needs to be stored or baked in a high-temperature environment, don‘t worry to put your food in the bag. Rcpp is safe and harmless. Rcpp passed the test of BPA Free and food grade.
3. Clear PE
Clear PE is used as inner layer material the most times in all packaging. It feels soft. But it can also provide strong puncture resistance and tensile strength.
All in all, it plays the most important role in packaging protection.
If coffee brands still use single-resins as a fully recyclable material structure. The following three problems may occur.
1. The barrier of the packaging can not meet the requirements of your coffee packaging.
2 . The packaging cannot be stored in the storage environment required by your coffee.
3 The strength of the package will be poor. In short, your package is not firm at all.
The right materials will open up a new world for coffee.
Did you use a barely-able coffee bag before? Coffee bags made of suitable materials will bring a new sense of experience. The freshness of coffee is soaring. This will bring a very pleasant enjoyment.
We have spent many years researching and improving the materials suitable for all kinds of coffee. You can tell us what the coffee bag you want is like. That’s enough. We welcome you to leave a message or call us now！
