Pillow packs/portion packs/etc

[sae]

Have any of you looked into making portion packs or pillow packs (you know those 1 serve packs for drip coffee makers). A fully automated setup will run at about $60,000 so now I'm thinking maybe a weighing machine, a part time employee and a band sealer.

 

[topher]

I have used the portion pack machines in the past. The ones I used had a spike that poked a hole in the bag so it could degass...I do not like those machines. They were a huge pain in the ass! This is our set up...super simple. We can do bags from 2 oz to 5 lbs bags(ground or whole bean) The weigh and fill with the band sealer was about $8 or 9k. One account gets around 10,000 6 oz bags a week. I have a guy who can get that done in about 30 hours. This includes grinding and what not.
.

 

[sae]

Topher,

This is kind of what I had in mind for my fall back plan. I have a few extra questions though

1.- What weighing machine is that
2.- what band sealer
3.- what do you do about degassing the coffee
4.- do you get the small (2oz-6oz) bags made somewhere and all you do is fill and seal the top? Do they have a degassing valve?

 

[topher]

The foil bags we use for the weekly orders are made for us and have a valve. We get 10,000 weekly. Since there is a valve we let the coffee degass in the bag.
-Weigh and fill is a proxpak Prox Pack MP5 great people located in Florida. As for loading...yes it is loaded at the top. We get a great work out. We load 50 lbs at a time. So you do have to be able to lift 60 lbs(can included) over your head. If not they do make machines to fill the top(I am cheap and like the work out)
-Band sealer is from Packaging Center USA - Machines > Plastic Bag Sealers in Miami. The model number is SYM-905 vertical. I was a bit worried about the band sealer when I first bought it. It was not expensive and I figured it would last a year. It came with a box of replacement parts. Every part that could break was in it(except motors) In 6 years I have not had to use one.
-2 oz bags are only for special orders and are a pain in the ass because there aren't valves on bags that small.

 

[wmark]

Wow.......isn't a valve on a 6oz pack expensive ?
Isn't a nitrogen flush cheaper ?

I looked at the frac pack business but a number of people dissuaded me as better quality may not mean anything given the commodity nature of that business. From what I gather, it is all about pricing......and if it is better quality, then so much the better but pricing is king.