A perforated foil stick-pack will take the humble tea bag into new, premium markets, claims machinery system supplier Sigpack Systems. No doubt the 'tpod' name will help.
The company, part of Bosch Packaging Technology, says it has formed a strategic alliance with foil converter Alcan Packaging and Munich-based contract packer Bistrozucker. The specification of aluminium laminate means that the pack forms a 'stirrable' cylinder rather than a flat sachet, says Sigpack, while precision-punched perforations ensure that the tea infuses efficiently.
According to Sigpack product manager Holger Botsch, the form-fill-seal operation will run at speeds of up to 100 cycles a minute on the slimmest stick-pack, although wider sachets can be filled at slower speeds. Multiple lanes can be run in parallel for higher output. Sigpack also provides different wrapping options.
In fact, while the machine modules are ready, says Botsch, Bistrozucker has yet to install them. Presumably, it is waiting to gauge interest before it makes a decision on capacity.
Stick-pack specialists say that the idea is not a new one, but that the challenge has been combining quality with cost-efficiency. In the case of tpod, it is clear that this, too, will be a relatively high-cost item.