Every barista knows that serving the perfect take-away coffee is not just about the coffee, but also about the entire customer experience. Packaging plays an essential role in delivering the best experience for consumers.
“We have been observing take-away coffee aficionados and have focused on developing innovative sustainable packaging solutions to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of the ultimate experience. Whether your coffee is hot or cold, we have figured it out. Let me tell you how,” says Neal McCone, Category Director, Quick Service Restaurants and Specialty Coffee, Fiber and Foodservice Packaging at Huhtamaki.
The tale of the refreshing summer drink
When days grow longer, coffee enthusiasts typically turn to a fresher kind of brew. Iced coffee has been trendy for many years now and every summer season brings new frosty coffee flavors. The latest cool kid in coffee town is called Dalgona, a hot or iced whipped coffee from South Korea.
When it comes to packaging for iced coffee, sip holes are an essential functionality.
If you take a look at people carrying a take-away drink on the streets, you will see that many have removed the lid from the cup. Mostly this change is driven by the sip hole’s impracticality.
Based on these observations, we tapped into our technical know-how to design an award-winning fiber lid. Our Future Smart™ Duo fiber lids are suitable for both hot and cold drinks. This new product’s high functionality makes it possible to sip drinks with or without a straw, thanks to the round sip hole. We think consumers should always be able to choose the best way to savour their favorite drink.
The tale of the dramatic coffee spill
For a vast majority of people, a cup of coffee is the only way to start the morning. Aside from perking you up and helping you focus, it also sets your mood for the rest of the day.
When you stumble, change pace, or move suddenly, the hot beverage you are holding in your hand sloshes back and forth in its container. If you have taken the lid off your take-away cup or worse, your cup came with an ill-fitting lid, that spells bad news for you – and your clothes – or the people around you. Spilled coffee is never a pleasant thing.
To avoid beverage spillage and these kinds of scenarios, we crafted the Future Smart™ Duo fiber lids to ensure an improved click fit with paper cups. The end goal is clear: to enable you to consume drinks on-the-go without worrying about spills or leakage.
The tale of the eco-conscious take-away lover
Over the past years, take-away aficionados have grown increasingly aware of the consequences of their consumer lifestyle on the environment. The more take-away beverages we drink, the more packaging we use. For many there has been an increasing awareness of the need to find sustainable solutions particularly to address plastic substitution.
In line with our purpose to project food, people and the planet, Huhtamaki decided to take on this challenge and make plastic lids a thing of the past. Our new 100% plastic-free fiber lids are recyclable and industrially compostable, providing a clear alternative to eco-conscious consumers and delivering a sustainable packaging solutions. As they are made of renewable, plant-based fiber, they help to reduce the consumption of fossil materials.
“We believe we can bring the final touch to the ultimate take-away experience by providing an innovative, fit-for-purpose and sustainable food packaging. Now it is time for cafés and baristas, wherever you are in the world, to join hands and create a positive impact by simply making the right choice,” says Neal.