Κάψουλες καφέ have changed our way of life. Previously, we felt that hand-brewed coffee was a treat, but the complicated procedures such as preparation before brewing, rinsing and cleaning after brewing, and so on let few people really enjoy a cup of great coffee.
The emergence of coffee capsules quickly occupied the hearts of all enthusiasts. It is simple and easy to operate. There is no need to clean up and one can make an excellent cup of coffee in 1 minute. Gradually the coffee capsules have changed from a trend in people’s lives portion.
Thanks to the rapid development of packaging technology, the coarse storage technology of coffee has been benefited a lot. Even after months or even more than a year of storage, when you brew a cup of coffee capsules, you will get the taste you expected. It has a thick crema and its strong scent makes coffee lovers feel good.
Perhaps coffee capsules are the only option for future coffee tasting！Seize the present moment and win the future for you.
Filling the coffee you are creating into the coffee capsules will add to the development of your business.
Next, we will analyze how to make a satisfactory capsule for you.
First, let’s take a look at the classification of coffee capsules:
It seems that there are many different types of coffee capsules in every coffee drinking country and region. So what are the mainstream coffee capsules in the world? Please follow me.
Nespresso™: Nespresso Original is one of the earliest coffee capsules. By extracting the representative of espresso up to 19 bar, you can make a lot of different flavors of coffee. Nespresso Vertuo Line is the newest developed productt. Its cup has a bar code on the bottom of the edge for easy machine reading. This can effectively avoid the use of imitation capsules on this series of machines.
“ In 1976, Eric Favre, an employee of Nestlé, invented, patented and introduced theNespresso system to the business market in Switzerland, initially without significant success.Nespresso first tested its new concept in Japan in 1986, and rolled it out to consumers in Switzerland, France, Italy and Japan the same year. ” – from Wikipedia
k-Cup®: Representative of the most popular coffee capsules in the United States, drip coffee. It can be filled with coffee particles, milk powder, cocoa powder, tea powder, and other products.
“Keurig. … The originalsingle-serve brewer and coffee-pod manufacturing company,Keurig, Inc., was founded in Massachusetts in 1992. It launched its first brewers andK–Cup pods in 1998, targeting the office market. As thesingle–cup brewing system gained popularity, brewers for home use were added in 2004. ” – from Wikipedia
Dolce Gusto™: With 15 bar pressure and high-pressure extraction, the large-capacity cup can be filled with a variety of powders and used with coffee, which is the first choice for fancy coffee.
“The first series of 2006 consisted of the models KP2000 (Black/Silver), KP2006 (Black/Silver/Red) and KP2002 (Black/Silver/White), all of them operating in a standard pressure of 14 bar. The device itself consists of a water tank, an internal water pump and an electric heater. The dispenser is in the top, where a lever lowers a plate with a single needle on the capsule holder.” – from Wikipedia
Lavazza capsules: The most popular series now is Lavazza Blue, Lavazza A Modo Mio, and Lavazza Espresso Point.
“In 1989 Lavazza bought the Uno Per company which become known asEspresso Point. The first machine was the 1x – an inexpensive, basic box made out of plastic. The first Lavazza designedespresso point coffee machine was developed in 1991 characterized by its warmer gold plated handles and polished steel. It was initially called the Balconcino con Vaporizzatore which later became the Matinee. After five restyles a more modern electronic version of the same machine is still available today.”
“Then come Lavazza Blue in 2003, Blue stands for “Best Lavazza Ultimate Espresso” – Read more from Bluepod website
“Officially launched in 2007, the AModo Mio family is composed of a range of single-dose coffee capsules and related series of coffee machines developed byLavazza and Saeco and produced by Saeco in Italy.” – from Wikipedia
The above four coffee capsule categories are currently the most mainstream coffee capsules in the world, of course, there are some other capsules such as Tassimo™, Senseo™, Caffitaly, etc..
After you have selected the type of coffee capsule you want to make, the next step is to choose the right coffee capsule filling packaging machines.
This is a very professional and complex issue. There are many choices on the market, including high-end equipment produced by European and American companies at high prices, high-quality equipment manufactured by Japan and South Korea at high prices, and equipment produced by China and South Asia.
How to find suitable equipment that can be used in the production of coffee capsules with fewer failures and less waste? Without continuous attention and contact for more than many years, you will get lost in a bunch of quotations.
Fortunately, after you read this article, I will solve your confusion, so that you will take fewer detours and choose better more suitable machines.
First of all, for coffee capsule filling and sealing machine equipment, its main functions are as follows:
- Sort/Organize the empty capsules for some specific cups.
- Empty cups are taken and placed in the filling and sealing machine mold.
- Cup detection, the function of no cup that there will be filling or the machine will be shut down.
- Filling.
- Cleaning the edges of the cup.
- Film/lids release.
- Sealing.
- The capsules output.
- Nitrogen filling to the area from dropping the capsules to the sealing.
Some people will also need some optional functions: like weight detector, liquid flavor filling, coffee grinding, etc.
After these steps, a perfect coffee capsule is created.
These are seemingly simple functions, but the equipment produced by manufacturers in each country is different, resulting in different prices. Some European and American manufacturers’ equipment can reach $ 1 million, while Chinese machines also are priced at thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. So what causes these differences?
According to my observations for many years, the differences are mainly originated from the following aspects
- One is the design, just like building a house. Some designs are continuously optimized based on long-term feedback from customers, and some designs are just copied from other companies. This is the main difference. When a machine designer does not consider the true usefulness of the product he designed, the equipment cannot be used stably for a long time.
- The second is the quality of construction. European and American equipment is generally sturdy, solid, and durable. Those cheap equipments completely ignore customer experience.
- The third is the use of electrical components. Good brands of electrical appliances can extend the useful life of the equipment and also allow the equipment to have a higher value retention rate. Some cheap equipment uses some used or even counterfeit brand electrical components to trick customers.
- The fourth is the most important after-sales service. Machine learning uses ten long-term processes that require the careful guidance of professional after-sales personnel. The machine is also like a human body, with occasional minor faults, some due to operating errors, some because the parts are old and broken, and timely after-sales service is even more important.
Now I believe you already know something about coffee capsules and its filling sealing equipment. You may have some questions, like:
1- Is the quality of the equipment produced in China very poor?
Many people have limited funds, so cheap Chinese equipment is their best choice. Of course, many people pay too much attention to the price, so they bought very bad equipment and even bought a bunch of very bad scrap iron to go. But this does not mean that the overall quality of Made-in-China machines is poor.
2- What suggestions do you have for purchasing coffee capsule filling and sealing machines made in China?
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, which is especially applicable to the purchase of equipment. Many experienced purchasers will obtain some equipment in various price ranges, and then choose the one that suits them, instead of blindly pursuing low prices. This allows them to have a general understanding of the device, and then better to choose the high-priced one because Chinese equipment is highly competitive that it is impossible to quote a high price without good quality.
3- How does Chinese equipment compare to Europe and the United States?
We have been working hard to improve the quality of our equipment, as close as Europe and America.
Now, most of our functional quality is comparable to Europe and the United States, but there is still much room for improvement in machine manufacturing details. A coffee capsule filling sealing machine from AFPAK can achieve 60 capsules per minute for every single lane, which is very close to the speed of Europe and the United States. In addition, our filling accuracy and sealing quality are completely the same as those in Europe and America. Of course, compared to the most advanced equipment, we are still very different, but we believe that in a few years, we can catch up with them.
The above is just my humble opinion. If there are any mistakes, please correct me. I appreciate it. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Thank you!
About the author：
Jeffree: Obtained a University degree in 2011, majoring in international economics and trade. Almost 10 years of working experience in the packaging machinery industry. Provide services to more than 500 customers mainly from European and American countries. One of the earliest people in China who researched and applied coffee capsule filling and sealing technology.