Looking for a complete guide on how to choose and buy a coffee capsule sealing machine for your startup business? This article explains everything you need to know!
Integrating a coffee capsule sealing machine into your packaging line is a great way of streamlining the packaging process. Since you have been directed to this post, you may be interested in buying a coffee sealer machine that would perfectly suit your business needs but does not know how to choose the right one.
When it comes to choosing and buying your own coffee capsule sealing equipment, you will find various choices especially if you tried searching on the web. Most likely, you will be overwhelmed by a lot of information that is being presented to you from your research.
To help you in sorting out this plethora of information, we will provide a straightforward guide on how to choose the right coffee capsule sealer equipment for your business before you go on and buy one.
In this guide, we will discuss the things you need to know before buying coffee capsule sealing equipment starting from the various types of coffee sealer machines to the things you need to consider before buying one.
Table of Contents
What is a Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine?
A coffee capsule sealing machine is an equipment used in attaching a pre-cut plastic or aluminum lid into a coffee capsule to create a tight seal. The sealing process follows after the coffee capsule is filled.
Oftentimes, a coffee capsule sealing device is combined with a filling device in one machine which is ideal for automating the whole coffee packaging process, especially for businesses with high production demands.
Types of Coffee Capsule Sealing Machines
Depending on the type of coffee capsule you are going to seal, there are four common types of coffee capsule sealing equipment to accommodate every type of coffee capsule: Nespresso, K-Cup, Lavazza, and Dolce Gusto.
#1 Nespresso Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine
Nespresso coffee capsule sealing machines are used to seal Nespresso and other Nespresso-compatible capsules. The coffee capsules which are made from either an aluminum or plastic material can contain 5-7 grams of Espresso, Pure Origine, Lungo, or Decaffeinato coffee in various flavors and intensities.
Of all the types of coffee capsules, Nespresso capsules are the most popular ones because of the wide array of Nespresso’s available capsule types. So it is not shocking to find out that Nespresso capsule sealing machines are also the most sought type of coffee capsule sealing equipment.
The Nespresso capsule category that a Nespresso coffee capsule sealing equipment can handle is composed of 16 various types of coffee capsules differing in strength. These 16 coffee pods are subcategorized into four main types: Espresso, Pure Origine, Lungo, and Decaffeinato capsules.
Espresso Capsules
Espresso capsules are the most popular drinks among coffee fans as they contain the most superior-quality traditional coffee. This category is composed of seven pods (Ristretto, Arpeggio, Roma, Livanto, Capriccio, Volluto, and Cosi) containing blended coffee in various strengths.
Pure Origine capsules
Pure Origine pods are actually Espresso capsules except that they contain a variety of three coffee pods (Dulsao, Rosabaya, and Indriya) which you can track to only one place of origin.
Lungo capsules
Lungo pods are designed for making “longer” or “tall” coffee drinks. They use roughly twice the water amount in espresso coffees. This category comprises of three Nespresso coffee pods: Linizio Lungo, Vivalto Lungo, and Fortissio Lungo.
Decaffeinato capsules
Decaffeinato capsules are the specialized capsules of Nespresso. Under this category are three pods: Decaffeinato Intenso, Decaffeinato, and Decaffeinato Lungo with different taste intensities.
If you are opting for this machine and are not sure which Nespresso capsule type you should be using, you can check out this guide to Nespresso coffee capsules for the differences of each capsule.
#2 K-cup Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine
These coffee capsule sealing machines are designed for sealing a standard weight of 7 to 12-gram K-cups and other K-cup-compatible products in various industries aside from coffee.
#3 Lavazza Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine
For sealing Lavazza and Lavazza-compatible products, you should opt for this machine. They are used to seal 7-10 grams of Lavazza blue, Lavazza a modo mio, Lavazza point, and other similar Lavazza coffee capsules.
#4 Dolce Gusto Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine
These machines are used to seal 7-12 grams of Dolce Gusto capsules and can fill higher amounts of coffee compared to Nespresso capsules. Moreover, they can also fill various products such as milk powder, tea leaf, health products, and others.
Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine Designs
Fully Automatic Coffee Capsule Sealing Machines
A fully automatic coffee capsule sealing equipment is popular in big companies with high production demands. They are integrated in packaging lines and are composed of automatic features including the following:
- Automatic cup feeding and discharging
- Automatic capsule sorting
- Automatic lid placing
- Auto liquid dosing for different coffee flavors
Semi-Automatic Coffee Capsule Sealing Machines
In these types of machines, the operator usually uses a finger or footswitch to start the sealing process and needs to load the capsules to the machine little by little and seal them until all the capsules are sealed.
Manual Coffee Capsule Sealing Machines
Manual sealing machines are operated by hand and do not need a power supply. Thus, they are ideal for small productions where electricity is not available and power outage is common.
Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine Layouts
Rotary Coffee Capsule Sealing Machines
This type of machine layout uses a rotary wheel for the sealing process. The rotary wheel allows for faster production but when it comes to maintenance, they are complicated to fix.
Inline Coffee Capsule Sealing Machines
As the name suggests, inline coffee capsule sealing machines work in a line. These machines are popular because they are cost-effective and easier to adjust and maintain compared to rotary coffee capsule sealing machines.
Why Buy a Fully Automatic Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine?
By buying a fully automatic coffee capsule sealing machine, you will have the following benefits:
- Reduced operating costs.
- Faster production in bulk quantities.
- Streamlined and fully automated coffee packaging line.
- Ensured defect-free and tightly sealed coffee capsules free from leaks.
- More convenient production as the operator only needs to monitor the packaging process.
You cannot gain the aforementioned benefits by using manual and semi-automated coffee capsule sealing machines. There is a big difference in the production capacity between fully automated packaging machines and the ones that are not. So if your business requires an increased production demand at an affordable price, choosing a supplier who gives fully automated coffee capsule sealing machines for sale at competitive prices would be ideal.
Things to Consider When Choosing/Buying a Coffee Capsule Sealing Machine
#1 Price of the Machine
Of course you should opt for a machine that will not go beyond your expected budget. Choose a machine that you can afford but can still produce your required production demand.
#2 Your Production Demand
Do you have a small company and only need to produce a few coffee capsules to start with? Choose either a manual or semi-automatic coffee capsule sealing machine. For big companies with higher production demands, opt for fully automatic packaging machines.
#3 Compatibility With Your Existing Packaging Line
The third thing is if you are planning to buy a fully automatic coffee sealing machine, you need to make sure that the machine will be compatible with your existing packaging line. Find a manufacturer that offers customization of your machine to tailor it to your factory’s specific needs.
#4 The Machine’s Size
Before buying a coffee capsule sealing machine, know your factory’s available space and see if your selected machine will fit within the space that you have allocated for it. Through this, you will be able to determine the appropriate size of the machine that you are going to buy.
Manual and semi-automatic coffee sealing machines usually have smaller sizes and you can move and place them easily wherever you want. On the other hand, fully automatic ones are integrated in the packaging lines of medium to large factories so expect that they will be bigger compared to manual and semi-automatic sealing machines.
#5 The Type and Size of the Capsule You are Going to Seal
Different coffee sealing machines can only seal a specific type of coffee capsule. Nespresso coffee capsule sealing machines can only be used to seal Nespresso capsules, K-cup sealing machines for K-cups, Lavazza capsule sealing machines for Lavazza capsules, and so on.
Also, though you do not need to worry much about the capsule size as most sealing machines offer adjustable capsule slots, you still need to make sure that the machine is compatible with your capsule size aside from its type.
#6 Ease of Use
Coffee sealing machines can have either an easy or complicated operation depending on the technology used for the machine. For manual and semi-automatic sealing machines, they are easier to control as they are more low-end compared to fully automatic ones and sometimes you only need to load the capsules into the machine and then press a few buttons.
Contrastingly, fully automatic sealing machines are more complicated because you need to configure a lot of settings such as pressure and temperature. But the good news is they come with touchscreen control panels. However, unlike manual and semi-automatic machines that need manual assistance during the whole process, fully automatic sealing machines only require the operator to feed the machine with coffee capsules and it will do the rest of the job.