Coffee is a brewed drink from roasted coffee beans that almost everyone enjoys, whether hot or cold. The affordability and simple pleasure that it offers continuously bring coffee marketing to success, despite the changes in the world’s economy. But have you ever thought that it is possible to manufacture promotional products from coffee bean material?
Today, let us take you on our recent factory visit to Vietnam and have a closer look at what happens inside the manufactory that produces a wide variety of promotional merchandise from ground coffee beans.
We love factory visits! Aside from the opportunity to see the establishment and production process in person, we love how it allows us to gain more knowledge and better understanding through the immersive experience.
On top of that, factory visits also help us to build trusting relationships and strong communication with our potential and existing suppliers.
Read this article we prepared for you to learn about how you can make the best out of your factory visit:
More Coffee, Less Plastic
Plastics are not biodegradable, and they do not degrade under natural conditions. Depending on the type of plastic and how it was disposed of, they take a long time to decompose and end up in the environment.
Our commitment to sustainable marketing is continuously driving us to look for alternative materials that are renewable and environmentally friendly. This has led us to discover this bio-composite material.
With the abundance of coffee crops, Vietnam has been the world’s largest coffee producer, next to Brazil.
The industry continuously climbs up the global coffee value chain despite the pandemic and significantly affects global markets.
The global downtrend in single-use plastics and the sustaining coffee production in the country have offered the possibility of creating a bio-based and recyclable material using locally sourced coffee grounds to reduce pollution by replacing single-use plastics.
The material is a combination of renewable homopolymer and coffee grounds, which is produced similarly to traditional plastics.
Compared to traditional plastics, this coffee-based material is more competitive, with the smell of coffee and the look of dark wood.
How Coffee Grounds Are Sourced?
Made from recycled coffee grounds, the manufacturer has established partnerships with local coffee shops in Vietnam for the supply of coffee grounds.
What Happens Next?
Once coffee grounds are collected, they are dried and later blended with recycled materials such as plastic, starch, cellulose, wood, natural resins, waxes, and oils to form the coffee-based material.
The production of coffee-based materials has created jobs for Vietnamese communities, from collecting the coffee grounds to processing the material and building the final product.
Machines and Standard Procedures
Machines play a crucial role in manufacturing high-quality custom promotional products as they help increase productivity and improve turnaround time.
During the factory visit, we made sure to explore around and have a closer inspection of the manufactory’s machines.
As we are not allowed to take photos and visit the LAB room, we can just ask them about the steps for making the coffee bio-composite material:
Preparing
Coffee grounds + PP material bags
Mixing Machine
Mixing coffee grounds and PP together before heating
Heating Machine
Increasing temperature for making composite
Cooling Machine
Decreasing temperature before cutting
Cutting Machine
Cutting the material into pellet size
Cooling Tank
Decreasing temperature before weighing and packing
Weighing Machine
For weighting before packing
Packing Machine
For packing the material after weighting
Certifications
The manufacturing company has applied for a three-star OK Bio-based certification from TUV AUSTRIA, for which products must use 60-80% bio-based content.
The material has also been certified by TUV Rheinland as food-safe.
The End Products
A sustainable alternative to traditional plastic, this coffee bio-composite material can be used to make tableware, polystyrene cups, flowerpots and other products.
Why Vietnam?
Vietnam’s economic growth has been fuelled by its ability to diversify its economy away from being entirely dependent on foreign investors and exporting raw materials and agricultural products.
It has also been helped by increased investment in infrastructure projects, a boom in domestic consumption as well as rising wages, which have boosted household incomes.
Would you love to know more about Vietnamese suppliers?
Our team in HồChí Minh, Vietnam, can assist you!
By working with our team, you can gain a lot of benefits such as:
As a Product Development House for the marketing industry, our buying office is committed to doing our part and leading the change toward sustainable materials. Learn more about it here:
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