The strategic partnership between NatureWorks and IMA Coffee announced last April to develop a K-Cup compatible compostable single-serve coffee pod for the North American market has led to considerable advancements being made in terms of the design and manufacture of these capsules, the companies have announced.
Coffee capsules are complex structures where the capsule body, lidding, and filter must be precisely designed to deliver a consistently high-quality brewing experience.
This multi-year collaboration, which combines the strengths of IMA Coffee, a global market leader in coffee handling, processing, and packaging, with the knowhow of compostable materials manufacturer NatureWorks, aims to deliver a turn-key compostable coffee pod solution to the entire coffee industry.
Work on the capsules has now reached the first significant trial phase. Compatibility testing on capsules, filter, and top lid films are being performed at IMA Coffee Lab with the precise aim to identify and achieve optimum material sealing parameters and limits as well as a suitable set up of IMA packaging machineries to handle the pods successfully.
Microleakage detection testing carried out under the supervision of IMA Coffee R&D team and in close and constant co-operation with NatureWorks specialists has shown promising results.
IMA uses dedicated tools to simulate filter and top lid films sealing phases, enabling the team to adjust parameters according to testing results. Once established, the next step will be the coffee extraction testing phase.
Meanwhile, NatureWorks has developed new single-stage thermoforming processes and capsule designs to produce capsules that meet IMA’s specifications for filling and sealing on their packaging machines. NatureWorks has also constructed a custom Data Acquisition System for K-Cup compatible pods that is being used to understand and benchmark how differing capsule designs perform under various brewing conditions.
“With the promising results we’ve seen so far, we have already begun the next phase of development by partnering with converters in North America to bring these new compostable pod designs to commercial scale,” said Flavio Di Marcotullio, global industry manager, Single Serve Beverages, for NatureWorks.