MILAN – Sustainability and liability. In addition to focusing on quality, the company pays particular attention to safety and to developing products that keep up with new consumer trends. These are the watchwords of the novelties that Gruppo Gimoka is presenting at Anuga, the most important European food and beverage fair that will take place in Cologne (Germany), from 5 to 10 October.
In doing so, the company takes the green concept adopted in its single-serve products to a new level. Today, in fact, in order to preserve their aroma, compostable coffee capsules or pods are packaged in coated aluminium packs, which not only cannot be composted, but they cannot even be recycled and must be disposed of in the unsorted waste.
Thus, the eco-sustainability of products packaged in this manner is halved.
Instead, Gruppo Gimoka has taken on the challenge of striving to achieve sustainability in its single-serve products in a broad sense, linking their compostability with the inherent advantage of achieving greater added value in terms of quality of coffee in the cup, practicality and maintaining the product’s characteristics over time.
Above all, the Group intends to achieve a unique competitive advantage over its competitors.
With the new pads that are compatible with the Senseo* coffee machine, whose standards are particularly widespread in Northern Europe, Gruppo Gimoka, based in Andalo Valtellino, in actual fact becomes the first company to offer to the beverage market a fully compostable solution – comprising both the pad and the pack – always maintaining the coffee’s superior quality in the cup, thanks to a flowpack which, while being entirely compostable, provides an oxygen barrier that ensures that the coffee aroma remains unchanged over time.
How was this achieved? By adopting dual development processes.
For the pad, the filter paper is produced using up to 80% of plant-based materials and, in more detail, a special heat-sealable PLA fibre, which is certified as being compostable according to the European Standard EN 13432 and OK Biobased and OK Compost certified by TÜV Austria, which is recyclable in wet waste to be treated in an industrial composting plant.
The perfect seal guaranteed by this specific paper filter ensures optimum functionality of the pad in the machine. A paradigm shift compared to normal paper pads which, contrary to what it is commonly believed, are not compostable.
The flowpack, in its turn, is also made of plant-based fibres, which are OK Compost certified by TÜV Austria, and besides providing an oxygen barrier that fully preserves the coffee’s aroma, in an optimum manner over time, it is unaffected by the chromatic limits of other fibres and therefore it can be easily and creatively embellished, thus also enhancing the marketing potential of the pack.
Gruppo Gimoka has an exclusive agreement with the manufacturer of this particular packaging, which has truly unique features.
Therefore, it is a top quality solution that is also ideal for customers who want to integrate their brand offer with proposals addressed to segments that are more conscious of the circular economy, sustainability and liability issues, which often coincide with segments of the population that have greater purchasing power.
This is confirmed in a recent survey conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers on buying patterns of over 21 thousand consumers in 27 countries: in general, 37% of consumers seek products with eco-friendly packaging, 41% avoid using plastic as much as possible, 42% pay more for environmentally friendly products and 44% want to know if what they are buying was ethically produced.
Thanks to this additional innovation, Gruppo Gimoka now ranks amongst cutting-edge companies, focused on constantly improving the sustainability of their products and working on all fronts: raw materials, production processes, packaging, product use and disposal. As regards the selection of raw materials, the Group’s strategy includes the use of ingredients sourced from natural substances or from renewable sources, thus it offers products that meet the requirements of quality, the seamless operation of coffee machines, food safety, but also – equally important – consumer needs.
Gruppo Gimoka
Established at the beginning of the 1980s, thanks to the vision of its founder Ivan Padelli, Gruppo Gimoka has quickly become one of the most renowned coffee roasting companies in Italy, in terms of processed green coffee. The Group controls the entire value chain: from the procurement of the raw material to the delicate roasting and grinding phases, followed by packaging and encapsulation.
The core business is divided into two business units: a ground & grain coffee unit and a single-serve unit. Therefore, the company has developed specific skills, both in terms of technology and manufacturing quality, thanks to which it is now a privileged partner in developing private label projects with leading international firms.
Thanks to the know-how it has acquired over the years and ongoing, sizeable investments in its industrial and distribution segments, Gruppo Gimoka is present in the professional sector (Ho.Re.Ca., OCS and Vending) and the home sector, with its own brands and through Italian and international private labels.
* Trademark is not the property of Gruppo Gimoka or any affiliated companies.
