While looking through coffee bags on the store shelves or at a coffee shop, you have probably noticed that most of them have a plastic valve or a hole towards the top of the bag. What you may have never understood is that the valve plays a crucial role in preserving your coffee’s freshness and keeps it tasting fantastic.
Once you understand its importance, you can even tell how fresh the coffee you have purchased is.
During harvesting, coffee beans are nothing like the hard, dark roasted beans we are accustomed to. The beans grow inside yellow, light green, or bright red pods. They are essentially colorless, and the roasting process makes them change color to dark brown and hardens them enough for grinding.
Why Should the Coffee Packaging Bag be Perforated?
Besides changing the coffee beans’ look, roasting gives them the alluring aromas we smell in a coffee cup. During roasting, coffee produces a lot of carbon dioxide. Some carbon dioxide is emitted during roasting, while more is released as the beans are allowed to rest after the roasting process. Since coffee beans go through a “degassing stage” for a few days after the roasting process, the perforations and valve on the packaging bag come in handy.
Allowing the coffee beans to continue emitting carbon dioxide is crucial towards helping retain your coffee’s aroma and flavor. However, degassing is not a short-time process. Although the beans emit most carbon dioxide within the first few days of roasting, the emission continues for several weeks. This is especially true for dark roast beans, which require longer roasting hours than other varieties.
However, since coffee is at its best a few days after roasting, coffeemakers may not be willing to wait until the degassing period is over to sell out their coffee. After packaging, the coffee beans continue to emit carbon dioxide. If packaged in an impermeable bag, gases might build up. This might inflate or even tear the pouch. A valve allows the exit of carbon dioxide while protecting your coffee from elements such as moisture or oxygen, which may affect the coffee’s freshness.
The valve is quite helpful when buyers are purchasing from their local store. As carbon dioxide escapes through the valve, the coffee loses its scent. Buyers can softly press the pouch to release the scent. A strong scent indicates the coffee is fresh, while a weak scent means that the coffee could have been on the shelf for more extended periods and may not have a strong taste.
Can Vs. Pouch Packaging: Which One is Best for Your Coffee?
As you may have noticed, cans don’t have valves or perforations. This means that although oxygen and moisture are locked out, there is no outlet for carbon dioxide. Therefore, before it is packaged into cans, it must have completed the degassing period. At the time of packaging, canned coffee is less fresh than bagged coffee, but canned coffee has a longer shelf life.
The small perforations on your coffee pouch may appear minor, but understanding their purpose might help you know how to package your coffee better. Good packaging will help better your customers’ experience and give you repeat customers. Help your customers get the best brew by seeking the services of an experienced coffee packaging company.
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