Australians love coffee; whether sipping it in a café, watching a friend proudly make you a latte on their new machine, or ordering coffee pods to make your favourite blends at home. Buying behaviours have also changed and consumers expect more from their coffee. Coffee must be sustainable inside and out, starting with the way it is grown, sourced, staffed, manufactured and more recently how it is packaged.
Coffee packaging needs to have all the necessary functional barrier properties to maintain optimal freshness and shelf life, be airtight, protect from sunlight, be durable; all the while offering the lowest environmental impact.
Three innovative coffee packaging designs that stood out at the 2021 Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) awards that tick all the boxes are SIPP Instant, Melbourne Coffee and PodPress Capsule System (pictured above).
SIPP Instant
As a premium instant coffee company SIPP Instant want to be accountable for the future of our planet, along with producing the best functional beverages on the market.
They have created a different product to the traditional instant category which is totally organic and Fairtrade. The products contain heat resistant probiotics, complex healthy carbohydrates for slow energy release and premium freeze-dried Columbian coffee.
The new SIPP Instant packaging was designed to elevate the functionality of the brand and features an ABA certified home compostable internal film.
The principal raw material for their cellulose, is a renewable raw material from eucalyptus trees in South America. The cardboard exterior packaging is made of 100 per cent recycled cardboard and non-toxic inks.
The cardboard box features a window to show the product and the compostable film inside, to appeal to the customers curiosity. Each panel of the box has purpose; instructions/process of making the product, health benefits and ingredients, and messaging around their sustainable practices.
SIPP Instant are aware that their product is a new concept, so wanted their packaging design to be easy to understand for new customers. The new packaging colour palette is eye-catching and contrasts with the dark colour palette traditionally used for instant coffee.
The new design has not only enhanced functionality but has added value to the brand, as it remains aligned with the ethos and environmental values of the business. The new packaging is sturdier and more suitable for retail shelves and now offers SIPP Instant more opportunity to expand in the wholesale and distribution sectors.
Melbourne Coffee (Cyclpac)
The Melbourne Coffee concept evolved from a desire to challenge the space of flexible packaging and create a mono structure material for coffee. The innovative solution is a recyclable, sustainable solution for coffee that also offers barrier for oxygen and vapour. Cyclpac have developed a packaging solution that could change traditional approaches in the Coffee industry for good, replacing “mixed” laminate packaging materials.
The packaging is 90 per cent LDPE, has a technical barrier to gas and vapour, a Mono structure lamination, BOPE, 7 Layer high barrier co-extrusion with EVOH, reverse or surface printed.
Developing the sealant layer to hold the release valve internally was essential to the development and required some variant testing. When producing a 90 per cent PE mono structure, the resistance to heat offered by the BOPE was critical to product performance and success.
The material (Mono structure PE with barrier to Vapour and Oxygen) is recyclable and complies with the Australasian Recycling Labelling Program in ANZ and the sister-program called OPRL in the United Kingdom.
The Melbourne Coffee packaging encourages consumers to “Make a Difference” and to “Recycle Me.” To Melbourne Coffee, the packaging is as important as the coffee.