This article explains why aluminum coffee capsules were invented in the first place and their current method of production. We will also cover who came up with this idea and discuss their necessity in the specialty coffee industry.
Coffee pods were invented by a swiss inventor Eric Favre, who had to visit Italy to get the idea.
Eric Favre tells his story
He started working in a packaging department for Nestle in 1975, at a time when instant coffee gained its popularity. Favre’s desire was to make sure that anyone could drink not just an instant coffee at home, but also a delicious cup of espresso.
Anna-Maria & Éric Favre. Credit source: houseofswitzerland.org
Hence, he and his wife decided to make a trip to Italy, the birthplace of espresso. In Rome, they visit the popular place Sant'Eustachio and many other coffee shops in order to find the best tasting coffee. They talked to the staff hoping to guess the secret of Italian espresso and finally they got a hit from the Barrista - turned out that while making the coffee he lowered the pistol of the lever machine 3-4 times, instead of just 1. As a result, the coffee was aerated.
The Barrista explained that lots of air ( as possible actually) needs to be induced into the water, prior to the later contact with coffee.
Prototype of 1975. Credit source: houseofswitzerland.org
Espresso secrets
"The air contains 20% of oxygen which oxidizes the aromas and essential oils and speeds up the extraction. Chemically, espresso consists of just a few components - water, coffee oils and air. I invented the formula for a delicious espresso, not just the pods. It’s simple, but nobody came up with this before” - explained Eric.
Favre started working on a creation of “an extraction cell, which included all flavors” as returned to Switzerland. He managed to make it look like a hemisphere, with a built-in filter and a membrane. However, Nestle decided not to invest in this development, since the instant coffee sales were constantly increasing which made the company believe that consumers would not switch to another way of preparing coffee.
® Nespresso coffee pods - battle over the patent.
It only took a decade to receive approval from Helmut Moscher (®Nestle CEO) to launch ®“Nespresso” as a subsidiary.
The production of Nespresso coffee pods began in 1986 by Nestle and rapidly spread out among the Swiss. 2 years later the pods conquered the French and American markets.
Favre left Nestle in 1991 and started his own business - “ Monodor”, with the idea to improve the capsule which initially weighed 3gr including 2 gr of an aluminum filter.
Therefore, the newly invented method of extraction completely eliminated the need for a filter. The new coffee maker pierced the top of the pod and let the water get in under pressure. Consequently, the coffee expanded inside the capsule deformed the lower membrane and pushed toward the spikes at the bottom of the device.
The Monodor coffee pod contains 7 layers of polypropylene, where the pod is only 12% of the total weight and the rest is coffee.
The Aluminum Coffee Pods’ success did not come easy, it went through fierce competition and multiple legal battles. Nespresso received a patent for the pods in 1991 and it served as protection until 2012 when the legal battles with Nestle actually started to take place - they claimed to have developed the concept. The battles lasted for a while until Favre and Peter Brabec, Nestle’s CEO signed the amicable agreement.
Revocation of the patent and the very first coffee pods
In 2013, the European Patent Office canceled Nestlé's patent for the Nespresso coffee system.
After that, lastic and aluminum coffee pods began to be produced by roasters and other specialty segment manufacturers, starting with “Colona Coffee” in 2016.
The strength and texture of coffee from those pods are something in between the filtered coffee and espresso.
Someone might argue that coffee from a capsule can’t be compared with a drink prepared manually, but pods are known for their convenience. Specialty coffee pods are spreading in the market and are affordable for customers without the opportunity to make a delicious cup of coffee at home fast.
How are aluminum coffee pods made?
One of the important initial steps is to grind the beans to one specific size – this is done to ensure consistency related to the brand’s quality.
Later, plastic cups of different colors must be placed on the right spot of the packaging machine. Colors simply identify the flavors of coffee.
After that, a conveyor belt moves the cups along the assembly line while they are being filled with pre-ground coffee. The pods then get covered with aluminum tops and sealed right away with laser precision to guarantee freshness.
Some coffee pods contain an internal plastic filter, that needs to be fitted: one with a pre-form plastic cup and the other just before capping it.
Few manufacturers use it since it increases the pressure in the coffee brewing process once the aluminum coffee capsules are inserted into the coffee machine.
Once the aluminum top has been fitted- each coffee pod gets inspected with special tools for defects and Carbon Monoxide level, which indicates whether any air entered the capsule and managed to destroy the flavor.
Some pods are then chosen for brewing and tasting – to ensure the quality of the drink. The entire batch may be recalled in case of any imperfections.
After all that is done, the capsules are packaged according to coffee type into their respective boxes.
Is there a Future for Coffee Pods?
Consumers’ taste changes all the time. Besides, many prefer to enjoy a delicious coffee at home rather than at a coffee shop.
Coffee Pods are the ideal alternative for active people, who do not have much time to prepare the drink. Therefore, lots of roasters started capsule’s production. Some coffee shops also offer their guests some drinks made by using the pods.