Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/581281
STiR tea & coffee industry international 49 The result is PürPod100, a ground- breaking fully biodegradable capsule. The lid is made of paper with a layer of PLA (polylactic acid) and a patented vapor bar- rier. The green ring printed on the lid sur- face contains a proprietary ink known as a taggant, another Club Coffee development that allows the pods to function in the latest Keurig 2.0 model brewers. PLA is a biode- gradable thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources such as corn, tapioca root, starch, and sugarcane. Finding the right material for the filter body of the PürPod100 was the most challenging aspect of the design as it required a material easily thermoformed and readily compostable. Club's conven- tional capsules are shaped from a flat roll of nonwoven filter material sized by heated anvil plungers that push the material into a mold, forming a pocket. Recipes re- quire pockets that hold different volumes. Pockets are narrower and shallower for tea, for example, and deeper for some or- ganic coffees. Compostable PLA is readily available but its crystalline structure resists thermoforming. Not one to give up, Club Coffee began experimenting with ways to ma- nipulate PLA without sacrificing its com- postability. Stretching the material was easy; but preserving the uniform mesh essential to filter the coffee with consis- tency proved difficult. "You want it to be able to make a really good cup of coffee, with the same dissolved solids each time, and you don't want any grinds to come through," says Gemmiti. Club Coffee eventually realized the ideal material didn't exist. "We had to in- vent special materials from scratch," said Gemmiti. Club Coffee turned to the bio resin experts at the University of Guelph to develop a sturdy plastic ring to support the pocket. The result was a highly compostable bio-composite PLA comprised of bio resin mixed with more than 20% coffee chaff. The coffee chaff, a by-product of roasting, makes the plastic highly com- postable. "Everybody has been blown away. The municipality took one look at it and said that will never break down, and then they put it into testing and it to- tally disappears," said Gemmiti. To preserve freshness coffee is packed in nitrogen and sealed. While the outer bag is not compostable, it can be reused in multiple ways, including as a freezer bag. www.rychiger.com SWISS QUALITY MADE BY FS 200 WORLD'S LEADING FILLING & SEALING SOLUTION. HOST, Milan hall 22 booth # G69 FS200_124x178.indd 1 08.09.15 10:21 Capsules on the march