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Packaging plays a vital role in preserving the quality
of coffee. In order to conserve its full flavour potential,
it is imperative to store, transport and distribute
it in hermetically sealed containers. Due to recent
technological developments, its inherent marketing potential
and environmental advantages, the steel can remains
a highly flexible packaging solution and continues to
be a major player in the coffee market.
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The long history of
coffee
The first coffee plants are said
to originate on the shores of the Red Sea in Northern
Africa, where tribes would grind the coffee cherries
and mix with animal fats to form a paste, giving warriors
the much-needed energy for battle. Commercial cultivation
of coffee started in the fifteenth century in the Yemen
province of Arabia, which for many centuries became
the world's primary source of coffee. Despite the prohibition
of export of fertile plants, some coffee plants were
nevertheless smuggled out for pilgrimages to Mekka,
so encour- aging the spread of coffee plants to other
countries. In the 17th century the Dutch dominated the
world's merchant shipping industry, introducing large-scale
coffee cultivation to their colonies in Indonesia, in
particular to the islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi
and Bali. During the 18th century, the French brought
coffee plants to Latin America, and due to the destruction
of much of the coffee culture in South-East Asia in
the 19th century, Brazil then emerged as the world's
foremost coffee producer. It still maintains that position
today, alongside other top coffee producing coun- tries
such as Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Mexico.
The vital role of
packaging for coffee
Coffee beans undergo roasting under
intense heat, which turns them brown and releases their
aroma. In order to conserve this full flavour potential,
it is imperative to store, transport and distribute
the coffee in hermeti- cally sealed containers. Packaging
therefore plays a vital role in conserving the quality
of coffee, whether this be coffee beans or ground coffee.
The specificities of
steel packaging
Both steel cans and aluminium foil
packs can be hermetically sealed. However, coffee packed
in flexible foils has to be degassed in order to prevent
the packages from exploding, a process which has a detrimental
effect on the coffee aroma. Steel containers are therefore
the ideal packaging solution for coffee. Immediately
after grinding, the coffee is placed in airtight silos
and packed into steel cans which are evacuated and seamed.
After 48 hours the pres- sure in the cans is normalized.
This process prevents aroma from escaping and so preserves
optimum quality.
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