The term vacuum is defined as space without matter in it. A perfect vacuum has never been accomplished, but not for lack of trying. The best man-made vacuum in history had less than 100,000 gas molecules per cc, compared to about 30 billion billion molecules for air at sea level. The closest example to a perfect vacuum exists in intergalactic space; it has been estimated that there is approximately less than one molecule per cubic meter. A commonly held incorrect belief is that a vacuum causes “suction,” when in reality the apparent suction is the pressure of the atmosphere that tends to rush in and fill the unoccupied space. There are many practical applications for the vacuum pump; one of the most common uses today is the vacuum processing of food.

Vacuum packaging is one of the earliest, most efficient and economical processes of preserving food quality and safe home storage of products that can easily and quickly deteriorate. Because oxygen enables microorganisms, such as bacteria, mold and yeast to grow, which then causes food to deteriorate, the removal of oxygen in packaging is of the utmost importance. Vacuum packaging literally vacuums the air out of the bags or storage containers, and so slows the process of deterioration. Vacuum packaging lengthens the time of freshness for just about all foods, from pasta sauce to coffee beans to potato chips. However, foods that are higher in moisture content, such as pasta sauce or grapefruit juice, should be vacuum packaged in a canister rather than a bag; this reduces the risk of the product being sucked up into the pump.

**The average family throws away approximately $1200 worth of spoiled food each year. **

Vacuum packaging can eliminate most of this cost when used properly, be it with a universal lid to vacuum seal already opened foods, or buying in bulk products that are vacuum-sealed for freshness.

• Vacuum packaged foods maintain their freshness three to five times longer than food stored by conventional methods.
• Fish, fowl and meat can be marinated in minutes when vacuum packaged in canisters, due to the fact that the vacuum process opens the pores of the food.
• Vacuum bags are often nonporous, washable, reusable, and specifically designed for use with a vacuum packaging machine.
• Vacuum packaging also protects nonfood items, such as silverware from tarnishing, corrosion and moisture damage.

The central focus of vacuum packaging is to keep food in the best condition possible for the longest time possible until it is sold and consumed. The better the product, the greater the likelihood of consumer purchase. Quality packaging is the key to achieving these goals. The shelf life of the product is extended, which allows food to be distributed farther, which gives consumers more choices in terms of food availability. Quality packaging also prevents leakage or deterioration, which can occur during transportation. Presentation of superior packaging is also a great instigator for consumer purchase.

At Van der Stähl Scientific, we have worked with hundreds of companies that have used our vacuum sealing equipment for just about every product under the sun, from marachino cherries to microchips. The vacuum sealing process has clearly benefited our customers and their products. It’s widely known that many products, particularly food products can greatly benefit from a controlled environment. In the presence of an ambient environment, product can decay quickly. Products like coffee grounds become stale, and other products in the presence of moisture can also decay quickly. Some of our customers have highly sensitive optical parts for equipment such as lasers and any moisture that may be present in an uncontrolled environment may haze or compromise the lens quality. Some of these lens parts cost thousands of dollars, and therefore great care goes to assure their safe transit and storage.

There are other secondary benefits of vacuum packaging your product. Many products shift violently during the shipment process and cause the products to be damaged. Vacuum packaging hugs the product in place, thwarting this violent movement. One of our customers is a packer of herbal teas, his tea concoctions include leaves, stems, and buds. These tea components are very fragile and prior to vacuum packaging his product, he told us that the shifting during shipment would pulverize his product and arrive to the customer as something that resembles sand. With some products, even trace amounts of O₂ can cause their product to be compromised. In these cases we have offered up the solution of gas purge sealing. Within this system, a product is tightly vacuumed, removing the ambient environment and just prior to sealing the bag, a puff of nitrogen is introduced into the product pouch, creating an inert environment. Nitrogen gas is affordable, and because only small amounts need to be used to manage the packaged environment, it is a great choice for highly sensitive foods and electronic parts.

There are many choices in the market, in terms of vacuum pouches. Some clear film pouches are coated in order to keep the vacuum after packaging. Films such as coated polyethylene and nylon have been a popular choice, but also foil pouches as well. Not only do foil pouches produce an excellent gas barrier medium, they further cut out any light that may compromise some delicate products. When considering vacuum packaging, you may wish to send your product to our package integrity lab for further analysis. In our lab, we can evaluate how your product will behave during the vacuum process and can also perform seal strength integrity studies in order to understand the robustness of your pouch by putting your bag against ASTM seal strength challenges.

Packaging should always provide the optimal environmental conditions for food from the time the food is packed up to its consumption. A good package should provide a barrier against dirt and other contaminants, as well as protecting food against physical and chemical damages such as air, light, insects and rodents. Some packaging inadequacies result from constraints such as a lack of knowledge of the materials and/or the requirements for packaging different foods. Every product has individual characteristics and so the packaging requirements will vary. In many countries the choices of packaging materials may be limited. Quite often the greater variety can be found in urban areas, so rural areas may experience more difficulties in terms of transportation and negotiations with suppliers. When small quantities are ordered for small-scale production, the side result is often that packaging becomes a large part of the total cost of processed foods.
In many countries the most commonly used packaging materials are:

• Leaves
• Vegetable fibers
• Wood
• Papers, newsprint
• Earthenware
• Glass
• Plastics
• Metals

Banana or plantain leaves are often used for wrapping types of food like steamed dough and confectionaries. Cornhusk is used to wrap corn paste or unrefined block sugar and various cooked foods are wrapped in leaves, such as vine leaves or bamboo leaves. They are cheap and readily available, but do not protect against damaging agents such as moisture, oxygen, and microorganisms.

Vegetable fibers are materials such as bamboo, banana, coconut, cotton, raffia, and yucca. These materials are taken in their natural state and converted into yarn, string, or cord, which then form the packaging material. Since these are of vegetable origin, they are biodegradable and to some extent reusable.

Wooden shipping crates have been traditionally used for transportation for a wide array of goods; from fruits and vegetables to tea and beer. As a packaging agent, wood provides good protection, good stacking characteristics, strength and rigidity. Plastic however, has replaced wood as a packaging container in many cases due to its lower cost. Wood is still quite often used for many wines and spirits because it transfers flavor compounds from the wooden barrels and improves the quality of the product.

Bottles and jars are very commonly used because suitable machines for sealing them can be produced locally and inexpensively. There are two types of caps most often used: those that thread at the neck of the bottle and crown caps, which are pushed on under pressure. If a bottle or jar neck is not regular in size, a flexible plastic material allows the sealer to be fitted to the various sizes of the containers.
The various types and uses of plastics are dependent upon the particular country. Plastics are very functional in that they can be made in either soft or hard forms, as sheets or containers, with differing thickness, resistance and flexibility. The filling and sealing of plastic containers is most often similar to that of glass containers. Flexible films are the most commonly used plastics in packaging and include: cellulose, polypropylene and polythene. The properties of these plastics that make them so popular are:

• Relatively low cost
• Good barrier properties against moisture and gases
• Heat sealable for prevention of leakage
• Have wet and dry strength
• Easy to handle and convenient for manufacturer, retailer and consumer
• Add little weight to the product
• Fit closely to the shape of the product, and so waste little space

Metal cans provide strong protection of the contents, are tamperproof, and are convenient for presentation. There are however, certain constraints such as the fact that they are heavier than other materials, except glass, and so have higher transportation costs. Also, the heat treatment associated with the use of metal cans is not suitable for small-scale productions.

Vacuum packaging machines can be hand-held or placed on countertops. These electronic devices remove the oxygen from the food container. Special bags and containers are then used that prevent air from seeping back in. Aside from the prevention of the deterioration of the food, vacuum-sealed bags prevent localized dehydration, otherwise known as “freezer burn,” which occurs when the food comes into contact with freezing cold air. Air also carries moisture, which can cause crisp foods such as crackers or lettuce, to become soggy, and dry solids, such as brown sugar to turn hard.

The majority of vacuum machines are very simple to operate; usually they just require the touch of a button. When using a bag, it’s usually as simple as filling the bag with food, inserting it over the edge of the vacuum channel, closing the lid and then pressing a button. In seconds, the air is removed and the machine shuts itself down automatically. For canister sealing, a small hose is attached to the portal opening on top of the appliance. Push the button and the air is vacuumed out in seconds.

The German physicist Otto von Guerrike created the first vacuum pump in 1650. Since then it has evolved in a myriad of different directions. The scope of applications for the vacuum seal is really limitless. As existing markets change and evolve, new applications emerge in every industry, from cosmetics to pharmaceutical to medical device packaging.

 

The savory scent of freshly brewed coffee is one of my earliest memories. I'd lie in bed listening to the sleepy murmuring of my grandparents and my mother as they sat around a small dining room table, always covered in brightly patterned cloth. They'd gently cradle steaming mugs and sip slowly as they prepared for the upcoming day. Even as a child, I loved the smell of coffee, even if I didn't like the bittersweet taste of it. This was back in the days that the older generation drank coffee and they drank it black. There wasn't a coffee shop on every corner and Starbucks wasn't a household name.

Now there are Starbucks coffee shops within blocks of one another, sometimes within eyeshot of each other. When I ordered my coffee the other day, there was an 11 year old standing in line next to me who ordered a double shot caramel frapaccino, soy-milk, fat free with extra whipped cream and then proceeded to slurp it up like a milk shake with benefits.

While name, advertising and quality help with the profit margins, one of the most crucial factors in any successful coffee market is packaging. A delicate product such as this is only as good as its ability to stay fresh. There are many differing views on the subject of packaging, but everyone is in agreement on the necessity of its central role in the coffee industry.

A new and fundamental change in coffee packaging has come sailing in from the emerald isle. Ireland’s Mark Reidy, head of manufacturing for Bewley’s Ltd. has recently begun spreading the word of a new cost-saving innovation in coffee packaging. New technology that replaces the one-way gas valves that are most commonly affixed to coffee packaging and work to expel carbon dioxide is an excellent new source of cost-effectiveness. One of the most exciting features of this technology is its ability to give businesses like Bewley’s options, where there was very little choice in packaging materials previously. This gave package players the monopoly on the market, allowing for enormous price hikes, leaving no room for complaint from manufacturers. A variety of flexible films are available for packaging, allowing for more pricing options, sealing options and vendor options.

This new technology developed by Ampac, while experiencing a warm reception in Ireland was expected to receive with some skepticism in other parts of Europe and in the U.S. Reidy suggested, “The packaging industry in the United States is skeptical of the Ampac system because it is so different. It throw away the rule book.” Reidy is also certain that while others may be nervous about the new technology, all coffee vendors experience a commonality in their dependence on packaging material vendors. This new technology removes the monopoly held by some vendors and gives coffee manufacturers the freedom to choose from a variety of pricing and material options.

This award winning method of coffee preservation is termed Ampac’s Jamison Freshness System™ and boasts a cost-saving method that abolishes degassing valves and speeds bagging by 10 percent. It claims the ability to economically degas coffee in bean or ground form without the use of added devices.

Bewleys began the use of JFS in late 2002. They began using it first for pillow packs of coffee and then later for stand-up bags. Shortly, in 2003, Bewley’s went ahead and had some of their form/fill/seal machines modified to accept this new methodology. Due to this, Bewley’s received a 2003 AmeriStar award from the Institute of Packaging Professionals for this packaging. (www.packworld.com/go/c090)

According to Reidy, some of the advantages of innovative technology such as this are:

• Cost saving: “We save money on every bag we pack versus before, and my managing director has a smile you could put a bridge across.”
• Aesthetic appeal: “Marketers want to raise the impression of a premium product through packaging.
• Long shelf-life: The 12 month “best before” shelf-life is “as good as that for any system available. We now have verification from retained samples, and we’re very happy with that.”

Reidy asserted that, “Ampac is a hero for us.”

A new wave of consumers that are more concerned with natural foods and more informed than customers of the past are one of the main motivators working to push improvements in the coffee packaging industry. The packaging of this delicate product profoundly affects so many venues of the coffee industry:

• Quality
• Freshness
• Aesthetics
• Marketing
• Cost

Since oxygen is the enemy of coffee, packagers over the last several decades have worked to eradicate oxygen within their coffee containers. Packagers here in North America were cheered by packaging innovations in late 2002 when Seattle's Best Coffee, LLC, a subsidiary of AFC Enterprises Inc. and Fres-Co System USA jointly announced an exciting patent aptly named Fres Close, a reclosure devise for Seattle's Best Coffee ground coffee. It was an exclusive resealing system that helped to prevent oxygen from aging the coffee too quickly.

Chris Burger, Coffee Product Manager for Fres-Co System USA, Inc said, “For years our customers have asked for an alternative to the tin-tie to reclose a coffee bag. Seattle saw this opportunity and partnered with us to bring this new reclosure to the market first.” Not only does this inventive reclosure device seal tightly; it also conveniently holds the bag open squarely when the bag is sitting open. In late 2003 the coffee roasters, Coffee Masters introduced new packaging on the 12-oz valve bags and the trademarked, Perfect Potfuls. Some of the perks of this new packaging are:

• A side seal that holds 12 ounces of whole bean or freshly ground coffee.
• The bag can stand alone on a shelf after handling.
• It’s nitrogen flushed and incorporates a resealable tin-tie that provides consumers with easy closing options.

Another new technology highlighted in the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal is the Pechiney Plastic Packaging’s (PPP) new Coffee Vent Tape. It is a creative system that runs a ribbon of film lengthwise along and seals it in the end seam. During the packaging process, a read valve is created. While carbon dioxide is released within the package, pressure builds and this causes the seal to open up and vents the package. Eventually the pressure begins to decrease and the valve reacts by closing and keeping outside gases from entering the package. This one-way pressure release system works to allow the coffee to degas while in the package, conveniently avoiding the costs of expensive de-gassing valves.

Coffee popularity and educated consumers will continue to drive the packaging community to labor for improvements in this rapidly growing industry.