Flexible High Barrier Material Enables "Café Switch"

The pack contains two flexible compartments, each containing a ready-blended liquid concentrate, which need to be squeezed to aerate the liquid until it froths.

07/09/07 A flexible high barrier material manufactured by RPC Cobelplast has enabled the launch of Café Switch, a new brand of concentrated coffee drinks from Douwe Egberts.

Café Switch is an innovative and fun concept that allows consumers to “pump and froth” the contents with their thumbs. The pack contains two flexible compartments, each containing a ready-blended liquid concentrate, which need to be squeezed to aerate the liquid until it froths. When hot or cold water is added, the result is a great-tasting coffee drink.

The Sara Lee Innovation & Quality Center team, led by John Flamand, Manager of Packaging & Hardware Development, worked closely over several years with the RPC Cobelplast Technical Service team, taking advantage of the thermoforming experience of Etienne Ysewyn and Jan Mortier, to develop the Douwe Egberts Café Switch packaging.

High barrier material was essential to protect the aroma and product taste and guarantee a longer ambient shelf life, but equally important was the flexibility to allow the pumping action. RPC Cobelplast’s solution is a translucent barrier multilayer material, which is compatible with the aseptic FFS equipment.

RPC Cobelplast supported the project from early development to production, through offering expert technical assistance, regular discussion with all partners involved, and the exchange of proposals about multilayer structures and layer distributions. A major advantage was the site’s specialised facilities, with the RPC Cobelplast laboratory for material and form evaluation enabling superior feedback on the many trial and test runs conducted during development.

Cafe Switch is available in three delicious flavours and retails in single-serve portions and packs of six.

“We believe that Café Switch is a very exciting development which provides consumers with another alternative,” comments John Flamand of Sara Lee. “RPC Cobelplast’s expertise in high barrier material has proved instrumental in bringing the concept to market.”