STiR coffee and tea magazine

42 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 5, 2018 (October / November) ICA Fill & Seal Solution ICA President Cesare Rapparini showing Euro- pean Union officials ICA's compostable ring Pod Pack spent more than $20 million equipping its new factory which fills, seals, and packs up to 500 million single-serve units per year in several different configurations. Identifying the right machine for the task is critical, explains president and c.e.o. Tom Martin. "The new facility is a key component of our strategic decision to continuously reinvest in Pod Pack's excellence in service, qual- ity, and innovation," he said. In a facility this size "100 a minute will not get it done" says ICA USA business development director Philip Angus. Roasters don't have millions to spend on machines so they settle for small machines, inexpensive ma- chines, some that don't meet safety or sanitation standards, he said. Making coffee that is convenient but not that good is not good enough. "Consumers like the convenience, but not if it does not fit the expected taste profile," he explains. Much of this is cultural, he says. In Europe, es- pecially in Italy, pods are seen as both convenient and "they make a high quality cup." Pressing an in-home espresso maker, squeezing, and discarding pods may not be as simple as loading a K-Cup, pushing a button and tossing it in the trash, "but hard capsules are not environmentally friendly." Com- postable rings are certified by the European Union and overwraps made of compostable films are readily available and not that expensive. Machine innovations meet the standard for efficient production at high speed for pods that en- able ideal extraction at reasonable cost, says Angus. Photo courtesy ICA USA Sales manager Dan Ragan and c.e.o. Tom Martin spresso style pods. Hotels and convenience stores order both capsules and pods, but they want the coffee packed individually in outer wraps that are easily recycled. Grocers and department stores sell capsules in boxes and box bottom pouches, some with freshness valves. Filter pods are the rule in foodservice and more prominent than capsules in hotels and resorts but Keurig dominates the home market. Nespresso promotes espresso machines for the home but these are more likely seen in restaurants and offices. There are few in-home pod brewers. They produce a high quality cup of coffee, according to Neil Madden at ECS Cof- fee outside Toronto, Canada. Selections are limited compared to capsules. He sells several blends of Reunion Island (16 pack/$10.99), Wolfgang Puck (18 pack/$10.99), illycaffé (18 pack/$16.99) and a 48-pack Senseo for $11.99. Cost per serving is as low as 25 cents. Restraints on growth Single-serve marketers have been fighting critical press coverage and consumer perception of pod capsules' negative impact on the environment for several years, a task more challenging as Millennials with families populate the middle class. "Companies have tried combatting this issue by showing consumers on their websites where they can recycle pods," writes Euromonitor research analyst Jonah Koenigseker. The problem is that plastic pods cost $2,500 per metric ton to re- cycle, according to Dr. Calvin Lake, a professor of waste man- agement and founder of Wiki-Waste. "That is 16 times more than the average blue bin items," he said, adding that compostable plant-based (PLA) pods are available. Keurig is likely to switch to PLA to fulfill its pledge to make K-Cups environmentally friendly by 2020. Unfortunately PLA does not degrade in seawater. Meanwhile, political lead- ers are pushing a G7 Charter on Plastics Pollution to promote sustainable management of plastic products and waste globally. Single-serve faces other headwinds says Koenigseker. "Con- venience is no longer as much of a competitive advantage. The evolution of the internet of things (IoT) enables early-risers to program their home brewers the night before, make smaller pots (equivalent to a take-away mug) with personalization at a reasonable price. All this suggests the way forward is efficient production of sustainable single-serve at commodity scale. The new facility is an important milestone, says Martin. "It enables us to signifi- cantly expand production while developing novel single-serve solutions to better serve the rapidly evolving needs of our cus- tomer base," he said.

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