How does a Gas-Flush Packaging System helps keep coffee fresh

It’s no secret… as soon as coffee beans are roasted, the process of losing flavor begins. Within a few weeks, chemical changes will continue to take place and a number of chemical reactions will eventually cause coffee to lose flavor and become stale.

As such, it’s extremely important for specialty coffee roasters to ensure that firstly, the freshness of their coffee is preserved right up until the moment of consumption and secondly, to extend the shelf life so that the product is able to reach more customers while at its peak flavor. How can this be achieved, since a number of factors – like light, oxygen. moisture – will need addressing?

Enter the Nitrogen flushing and vacuum sealing systems; these are two of the most effective ways to preserve roasted coffee while extending its shelf life. Both packing methods greatly reduce oxidation and slow the rate of staling, helping to keep coffee fresh for weeks, if not months.

For many years now, nitrogen has played an important role in the preservation of food and beverages because it extends the shelf life of goods while being cheap to produce, safe to inhale (around 70% of the air we breathe is made up of nitrogen) and relatively unreactive. This technique involves “flushing” the oxygen from packaging containers using nitrogen gas because nitrogen doesn’t interact with foods, thus it does not change the flavor of the product.

To nitrogen-flush coffee, the bag with either beans or grounds goes into a machine used to force the regular, oxygen-rich air out and replace it with nitrogen gas. Naturally, in order to prevent the nitrogen from escaping, the pouch must be sealed immediately after.

We at QuantumPak, have developed the Q800CG machine which makes the entire process a breeze; this high-quality continuous band sealer comes equipped with a gas flush infeed system and a fully synchronized product conveyor that can seal bags & pouches at speeds up to 800″ per minute. It is designed for hermetically sealing a wide variety of metalized, paper, & plastic materials and along with a variety of bag styles. The Q800CG is suitable for 24/7 operation in a wide variety of industries and can hold bags weighing up to 15 lbs. A number of customizations are also available for more demanding applications such as heavier bag weights which will require larger conveyors and a heavy-duty motor.