Festo powers coffee manufacturing machinery

Festo worked alongside engineering company Molins International Technology Centre Machines to design and develop an automated machine to manufacture coffee bags

Festo has helped produce a unique new coffee bag that is set to revolutionise the market.

The automation specialist worked alongside engineering company Molins International Technology Centre Machines to design and develop an automated machine to manufacture the coffee bags, which are based on initial concepts produced by Molins and supermarket giant Sainsbury's.

The Cafusa coffee bag is an innovative method of delivering fresh ground coffee with the convenience of instant granules.

Festo's dedicated Food and Packaging division worked with Molins to build the machines capable of making the bags, using a range of dedicated components.

The Cafusa machine uses a number of compact cylinders (type: ADVU), standard cylinders (type: DNC ) and rodless cylinders, as well as a Festo service unit, pressure regulators and a trip valve.

"As such, all of the key processes in the machine are powered by Festo components", comments Simon Strothers, Molins' Marketing Manager.

"We have a long history working with Festo, and have been using Festo components for years on a wide range of different projects, as we believe that they are the best available.

Performance is always excellent, and the reliability of both supply and support is outstanding." Governed by stringent hygiene standards and legislation, the food processing industry necessitates special solutions from component and equipment manufacturers and system integrators.

Festo has developed a range of high performance pneumatic components and automation solutions dedicated to the food packaging market that work in compliance with strict legislation governing hygiene.

Constructed from corrosion resistant materials and designed with smooth surfaces and radiused corners to eliminate dirt traps, they can be quickly and easily cleaned to significantly improve output results.

"The Cafusa bag acts like a disposable cafetiere", explains Strothers.

"It sits across the top of a mug and hot water is poured directly onto the ground coffee.

A double chamber filter provides the maximum surface area for the coffee to infuse, resulting in the same flavour and quality you'd achieve with a traditional coffee filter, but without the mess or inconvenience." Calling the highly innovative system Pour-Thru technology, Molins was quick to patent the technique, which is set to do for the coffee market what the tea bag did for the tea market 50 years ago.

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