Cost and sustainability in coffee packaging are becoming considerations for coffee roasters and brands. Coffee is more than a beverage. It is a ritual, a social brew and a global beverage. As the coffee industry grows, so has the packaging used to keep it fresh and tasteful. Coffee consumers are now more aware of the packaging materials being used. This puts pressure on coffee roasters and brands. How do they balance cost and sustainability in coffee packing? In this mega blog post, you will learn how coffee roasters meet their financial and sustainability goals with coffee packaging.

Why Coffee Packaging Matters?

Before we address how to balance cost with sustainability, let’s look at why coffee packaging is important. Coffee is sensitive to the environment. If not correctly packaged, the coffee loses its aroma, freshness and goes stale.  Traditional packaging materials have added significantly to the world’s landfills. These materials are excellent for protecting coffee. They protect coffee from oxygen, moisture, and light. Coffee roasters/brands need to deal with the rising expectations of consumers who want to see brands using sustainable packaging materials. Sustainable coffee packaging can help you reduce waste and save resources. It helps you make a positive impact on the world (i.e., satisfying customer demand). But can you do it and keep your costs from going through the roof?

Traditional Coffee Packaging

Traditional coffee packaging uses a combination of plastic and aluminum to give you the barrier properties you need. These packaging materials are fantastic at keeping moisture, oxygen, and light away from coffee.They’re also a significant problem because it’s challenging to recycle these materials.

Pros

Cons

Choosing Right Material

Sustainable coffee packaging is a great way to reduce environmental impact. This type of packaging is made from sustainable materials. Sustainable means these materials are biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable. Sustainable coffee packaging may be more expensive initially. But over the long term, sustainable packaging can reduce some of these costs. Let’s look at some of these sustainable packaging materials and how they work.

Recyclable Packaging Materials

One of the ways you can reduce your cost and increase sustainability is to switch from using multi-layer laminates to mono-material packaging. Mono-material packaging consists of a single material like polyethylene (PE) instead of using plastic and aluminum. The use of these materials might be difficult to recycle because they may be considered multi-layer.  Recyclable packaging material reduces waste and energy when making new products because you’re not starting from scratch every time. For example, going from plastic-aluminum laminates to recyclable plastic laminates or paper laminates allows you to reduce costs on the waste side and the virgin material side. By doing this, you’re creating more of a circular economy where products get reused repeatedly instead of just ending up in landfills.

Benefits of recyclable materials

Bio-degradable Packaging Materials

Compostable packaging is designed to dissolve into the environment within weeks or months. Plant-based bioplastics including wheat straw plastic, corn starch plastics, sugarcane bagasse, and kraft paper are examples of compostable material. Compostable packaging is expensive to produce. As the name implies, you’re not putting anything into the landfill or creating trash. It does give brands an opportunity to reduce their overall carbon footprint. For coffee brands, it will positively impact their customers. Cost benefits happen anytime you can eliminate anything to landfill. For example, PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a plant-based material used in compostable coffee packaging. PLA has the strength to serve its purpose in the packaging to protect the coffee. It is more expensive than a standard plastic bag, but it is an excellent investment.

Benefits of bio-degradable materials

Kraft Paper Packaging Materials

Paper-based packaging is a popular choice for eco-friendly brands. When made responsibly, paper is both renewable and recyclable. To protect products like coffee, barrier properties can be improved with PLA coatings or liners. Using kraft paper pouches helps coffee companies reduce their environmental impact and cut costs. Kraft paper with water-based inks and plant-based linings (like PLA coating) is commonly used for coffee packaging.

Benefits of kraft paper material

Conclusion

Whether you’re using recyclable, compostable, bio-based, or paper-based packaging, the long-term savings make it worth the cost. Sustainable packaging reduces waste, uses less energy to produce, and creates a positive marketing, brand image, and perception. Sustainable packaging is the best strategy for coffee companies to balance costs with the environment.

Printing in Sustainable Ways

Sustainability is more than picking and using the right materials in your coffee packaging. For small coffee roasters, you can be sustainable in your branding and in the printing done on your coffee packaging. Traditional printing uses solvent-based inks and gives off VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), which are highly polluting and energy-intensive to produce. Sustainable alternatives, such as digital printing, water-based inks, and sustainable labels, provide a cost-effective, eco-friendly solution for small coffee brands. Here’s how sustainable printing methods can balance cost and the environment:

Environmental Inks

Traditional printing processes often use solvent-based inks, which contain harmful VOCs that contribute to air pollution and require high energy to cure. Water-based inks, on the other hand, offer an eco-friendly alternative that is both safer for the environment and more cost-efficient in the long term.

Pros of environmental inks

In particular, small coffee roasters want to print a label or printed design on their kraft coffee bags.

Environmental Labels and Adhesive

Small coffee roasters can make their packaging more sustainable by using eco-friendly labels and adhesives. Traditional labels often contain plastic, chemicals, and non-biodegradable materials, so switching to greener options helps improve the overall environmental impact.

For example, a small roaster using compostable pouches or films can also choose compostable labels with plant-based adhesives. In short, for smaller specialty coffee roasters, balancing cost and sustainability in packaging goes beyond just choosing the right eco-friendly packaging—it’s also about using sustainable labels and adhesives.

Benefits

Sustainable printing focuses on long-term savings such as reduced waste, lower energy consumption, appealing to eco-conscious customers, and balancing cost and sustainability.

Digital Printing

Digital printing has become a popular, sustainable alternative to conventional printing for coffee packaging. It is a perfect match for small coffee roasters who design and sell their printed coffee packaging. Digital printing uses less ink producing less waste.

Benefits of digital printing

A small coffee roaster launching a new seasonal blend can use digital printing to print the limited-edition packaging without paying for bulk printing while maintaining their sustainable brand image.

Using Various Strategies

Refillable and Subscription Box Packaging

Another innovative way to balance cost and sustainability in coffee packaging is through refillable packaging schemes or subscription packaging using kraft paper. Refillable schemes allow customers to use reusable containers or pouches, reducing waste over time. Subscription packaging, like kraft paper pouches, eliminates extra costs while being eco-friendly.

Kraft Paper Subscription Boxes

A coffee roaster offering a monthly subscription could sell coffee in kraft paper pouches. Customers can use the pouches as is or pour the coffee into a refillable tin or container, cutting down on packaging waste.

Refillable Packaging

Coffee roasters could introduce a container refill program, where customers return or mail in their empty containers to be refilled. This reduces single-use packaging and encourages a more sustainable, circular approach to coffee consumption.

Benefits

By selling coffee in refillable containers along with coffee being a subscription package using kraft paper, you can reduce material costs as a small coffee roaster. Refillable packaging schemes, along with subscription model packages, will help you reduce the amount of packaging you have to make and create a brand-loyal customer base who cares about the environment. Utilizing refillable packaging and subscription packaging is a great way to balance sustainability and cost.

Bulk Purchasing

One way to balance cost and sustainability in coffee packaging is by buying sustainable materials in bulk. Purchasing materials like kraft paper in larger quantities helps lower overall costs, making it more affordable to create eco-friendly packaging. Bulk buying also strengthens relationships with suppliers, leading to better prices, consistent supply, and the possibility of customized packaging for your brand.

However, this approach doesn’t work for all biodegradable materials, as some can begin to decay over time, which makes long-term storage a challenge.

Pros

Cons

Sourcing Reliable Suppliers

A bad sustainable packaging supplier be like

You would be told that they have sustainable credentials when they don’t. A bad sustainable packaging supplier may also:

A bad sustainable packaging supplier will make your coffee roasting business look bad.

A Good sustainable packaging supplier be like

A reliable sustainable packaging supplier does more than provide you with sustainable materials. Our sustainable packaging suppliers are curated based on the following attributes:

When you choose Pursue Packaging as your sustainable packaging supplier, you become a partner with a company that embraces your values. We help you achieve your goals without sacrificing the quality or performance of your coffee packaging.

Conclusion

In a world where consumers are concerned about the environment, balancing the cost of sustainable coffee packaging with the sustainability of those items is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must. It’s critical for you to look at sustainable coffee packaging as an investment, not an expense, in your brand’s growth, cost of goods sold, and impact on the environment.