A Review of the 4 Main Coffee Packaging Styles

Ah…nothing is better than the first cup of coffee in the morning, or the second for that matter. But if you are trying to build your coffee brand, your coffee packaging is a close second.  Coffee packaging is often overlooked and misunderstood so this blog post has been designed to help you understand the different styles and features available.  Further, in order to build your coffee brand, you will need some guidance as to the difference between custom printing and using stock coffee bags and applying labels.

Here are the 4 main coffee packaging styles:

Traditional Quad Seal-Fold Over Bottom

This style has been around forever.  The material is formed and sealed along with side gussets and a fold over bottom and top so the pouch can hold 8 or 12 or even 16 ounces of coffee and the pouch will stand on a shelf.  The problem is the fold over bottoms work great when this style of coffee packaging is full and heavy enough to make the bag stand effectively, however once coffee is removed this style can become unstable and flop over.

Available features for Quad seal pouches are ziplocks, tear notches, tin ties, resealable tape, and gas release valves.  Ziplocks for this type of packaging can be troublesome as the side gussets can restrict how wide it can be opened.  There are alternatives but they can be expensive and require a large minimum run.

Material choices for quad seal fold over packaging for coffee can be clear film, metalized film or Mylar, and foil.

StandUp Pouch Style

Using a stand up pouch design where the bottom of this packaging is sealed to create a base so the pouch can stand effectively and just as important consistently on a shelf.  There are different types of bottoms, known as bottom gussets, and each type is based upon the weight in the pouch.  If you are trying to find an inexpensive way to stand out and build your coffee brand, consider this stand up pouch style. 

Available features  are ziplocks, tear notches, and gas release valves.  This style works perfectly with ziplocks for easy access into and out of the bag.

As listed above, material choices for stand up pouches can be clear, Mylar or metalized film, and foil.

Flat Bottom Flexible Box Bags

This is the newest style of coffee packaging on the market.  Similar to a quad seal design in that there are side gussets, the bottom of these pouches is completely flat.  The advantage here is they stand erect regardless of the amount or weight in the bag and because of the side gussets they hold more volume in a smaller area and actually use less film than any other packaging style, up to 15% less.

Available features for this coffee packaging are ziplocks, tear notches, and gas valves.

Clear, Mylar and metalized film and foil are the material choices.

Single Serve--Form-Fill-Seal or 3 Side Seal Flat Bags

While this isn’t necessarily a “style” of coffee packaging, it is often thought of when a client is thinking about how to build their coffee brand or package their coffee. A single serve packet of coffee can be made in 2 ways.  One is for a form, fill, and seal machine to convert and seal rolls of film while loading in a certain amount of coffee.  Another way is simply to have 3 side seal flat bags that made in advance and not part of a form-fill-and seal machine.  Here the pouches can be loaded by hand or in some high volume cases filled by a piece of equipment.

Most form-fill-seal single serve packets cannot be made with a ziplock or a gas valve. However, those flat pouches made in advance can have a ziplock, tear notches, and gas valves.

Single serve coffee pouches are almost always made with Mylar or metalized film.

To build your coffee brand, each of these styles can be printed up to 12 colors using the most sophisticated printing style available, which is Rotogravure. However, when companies are just starting out, they can purchase stock coffee packaging which is available in all of these styles and apply a press on or stick on label.

In closing, this is a very general look and explanation of the main styles of packaging for coffee. If you are looking to build your coffee brand, consider looking for more in depth information about the difference between custom printing and applied labels.  Both serve a purpose and can be very effective for companies large and small.