Safeguarding Nestlé coffee capsules

The market for individual coffee portions is booming. According to a report by the German Coffee Association, the share of overall coffee consumption made up by individual portions has increased tenfold in the last five years.

In Orbe, Switzerland, Nestlé produces individual portions of coffee tablets sealed with foil for its Nespresso system range aimed at business customers. The tablets, which are made of pressed, ground coffee, are inserted in their entirety - foil packaging included - into the espresso machine. The top of the capsule is perforated by a mechanism in the machine, which leaves a small number of wide openings. Pressurised, heated water flows through the tablet and emerges from the perforated underside of the capsule as fine espresso.

The range includes seven different coffee aromas called ‘Grand Crus’, a name that serves to underscore the quality of the premium brand. To achieve this level of premium quality, production processes must be fine-tuned to work seamlessly together. The packaging process, with high output rates, occupies a crucial role here. Nestlé uses Oystar Hassia form-filling and sealing equipment for this purpose.

Oystar Hassia’s form-filling and sealing equipment is typically used to package low- to high-viscosity products. Since the form-filling and sealing technology is adapted to meet product and market requirements as well as particular customer needs in each instance, economical and highly efficient solutions can also be realised in other product areas. The machine used to package pressed coffee tablets in portion capsules formed from a PET/aluminium/OPP composite is just one of many examples. Using one such machine from the THM 18/42 series, Nestlé produces approximately 43,000 tablets in coloured foil per hour.

The Nespresso coffee capsule machine is very user friendly, offering ergonomic working heights for maintenance, servicing and visual inspections among other features.