Castaway Packaging - Helping Roasters Build their Business

The specialty coffee industry has continued to grow, creating more competition and specialised approaches to not only how coffee is sourced and served, but also to how it is packaged.

Your packaging is more than just a vehicle to transport your product, it is an integrated system that includes your product range, branding, and supply chain. Coffee roasters are continually searching for new and innovative ways to approach this vital medium.

MPM Marketing Services, the owner and marketer of Castaway Food Packaging, has taken a deep-dive approach into identifying and understanding the needs of the market, with the goal of providing a complete packaging solution for coffee roasters. Learning from the best in the industry at Golden Bean, and visiting coffee roasters on-the-ground throughout Australia, it has become clear that packaging is a critical component of success within the wider ecosystem of a roasting business. Packaging such as coffee bags must not only keep beans fresh and secure, but also form an extension of the brand. Already established as one of Australia’s largest coffee cup suppliers, it was a natural progression for MPM to expand its range to include coffee bags. The new bags were recently launched at this year’s Golden Bean Coffee Roasting Competition and Conference, with the Castaway coffee bags used in the competition supplied by MPM.
With many roasters offering a range of different blends, driven by single origin sourcing and the growing number of coffee aficionados, different bags are required to suit different needs. Simple side gusset coffee bags have proven themselves to be the most efficient and practical type of bag for selling beans to the wholesale market, but with demand for retail coffee beans on the rise, more specialised bags are required. Stand-up pouches and box bottom coffee bags with resealable zippers provide added convenience for consumers as they can be resealed quickly and easily, so consumers only grind what is necessary for their cup. The Castaway coffee bag range includes all three types that are available plain, or custom printed for greater brand exposure.

Building your brand and your story through packaging has never been easier with so many different options and printing capabilities available. Identifying a niche for your brand and maintaining consistency across all of your packaging products will drive success in a competitive market. Scott Browning, MPM’s Marketing Manager said, “As we delve deeper into the needs of our customers we are finding a major trend towards premium packaging, not just for the brand, but also for the range of blends.” Each blend requires, at a minimum, its own name, and perhaps a different design or colour. If you have several different blends, printing each one individually may become quite expensive, but with coffee bags there are ways to create a complete portfolio. Starting with a printed coffee bag featuring just your brand as a base, and then adding a cardboard sleeve with a different print design for each blend, allows you to be flexible in your product offering. This dynamic approach helps to reduce the initial investment and up-front costs often associated with premium packaging, and brings a solution to small and medium-sized roasters that want a diverse product offering without sacrificing a premium-look for their product.

An often-forgotten aspect of packaging is the printing process itself. The best results for brand representation can be found in the gravure and flexographic printing processes for coffee bags and coffee cups respectively. These printing processes produce more accurate colour representation and clarity than digital printing, as specific inks and printing plates are used for each colour. MPM has invested in a new TrueColour™ print management system that utilises the latest technology to accurately match colours throughout the whole process from initial colour selection, to colour proofs, and final production. By sourcing all of your printed packaging from one supplier, you are assured of accurate printing and colour reproduction for your brand.

Many roasteries have invested in a combined roastery and café establishment, and this is where benefits can be gained through simplification in the supply chain. Ordering and stock management can become easier when there are only one or two suppliers to deal with. You might pay slightly more for some products if you reduce your number of suppliers, but you gain the benefit of reduced stock holdings and more frequent and consistent delivery times. With a full product range including coffee bags, recyclable coffee cups, carry trays, and takeaway containers available for both the roastery and the café, MPM has enabled roasters to simplify their supply chain, ultimately resulting in reduced shipping and transportation costs.

Marketing Manager Scott Browning said, “With the introduction of our new Castaway coffee bags, we now offer a full packaging portfolio for coffee roasters in Australia and New Zealand. We are aiming to be the best full-service packaging supplier in the coffee industry, providing quality products and quality service. In 2018, we will continue to develop and innovate our products to meet new levels of practicality and refinement for specialty coffee roasters.”