Café Culture talks to Kane Bodiam, Global Business Development Manager for Mad Coffee Capsules Pty Ltd, who will be producing capsules on quality European coffee roasting and capsule manufacturing machinery. Almost 20 million dollars will be invested in this machinery – a huge investment by Australian coffee industry standards!
There is no doubt the single serve espresso market has seen some remarkable growth over the past few years. Whilst there are a number of alternatives on the market, the extensive penetration of the Nespresso®* brand means that the rest of the capsule market is playing catch up.
Who is Mad Coffee Capsules?
Mad Coffee Capsules is a dynamic business established to service the needs of the fastest growing sector of the coffee industry. We exist for one reason – Nespresso® compatible capsule manufacturing. Our expertise, our knowledge and our passion for coffee led us to this, being the next step in the coffee evolution. Our vision is to become the largest producer of Nespresso® compatible capsules in the southern hemisphere, on a scale never seen before.
Do you accept roasted beans, or do you only roast your own green to turn into capsules?
Yes, Mad Coffee Capsules provides a holistic service offering extensive expertise every step of the way. We can use your (pre-roasted) beans for capsulation, or look after careful coffee procurement and the roasting process. The finished capsule is second to none, with our wealth of expertise coming through in the finished product.
How did you get started in the coffee business and finally move into capsules?
Our journey (like all great journeys) started with a coffee. We loved the coffee we could get from small boutique roasters, but we recognised that there was a gap. There was no one providing the attention to detail and consistency, on a large commercial scale. This part of the coffee industry needed a new lease of life. It needed people to put in the time, initiative and capital investment required to bring to market a business that is not only strong in coffee knowledge, but also in production, distribution, quality assurance systems and infrastructure.
Who is BOSS Caffé, and what does “Mad Coffee Capsules in conjunction with BOSS Caffé” mean? How do you work together?
BOSS Caffé is a coffee solutions business that takes great brands to market. In keeping with our core values of being a dynamic business, we partnered with this energetic and vibrant team, who take a fresh, innovative approach to the coffee industry. They bring a great deal of knowledge in the field of Nespresso® compatible capsules both locally and internationally and with a range of complimentary expertise, they will become a key partner in servicing the needs of our customers.
Tell us more about the services you provide.
We want to be known as “best in class”. Our machinery is second to none. We have invested approximately 20 million dollars in quality European coffee roasting and capsule manufacturing machinery – a huge investment by Australian coffee industry standards! In keeping with our fastidious approach to producing quality coffee capsules, we have partnered with leading European manufacturers Schubert, Opem, Brambati and Probat. We have also just become exclusive supply partners of Opem in Australia and New Zealand for all large capsule filling machines. We believe that the manufacturers of all our coffee roasting and capsule production equipment are some of the best in the world and are confident that these quality standards will be reflected in our finished product. We offer an unrivalled service, on a level never before seen in Australia. Mad Coffee Capsules deliver everything from coffee procurement and roasting to bespoke branding solutions. We offer an experienced and stringent green bean procurement, roasting and capsulation of some of the world’s finest coffees, while managing every step in the process. For our roasting partners, we can provide a manufacturing process with a capacity of 2.25 million capsules per day, taking roasted coffee and transforming it into a retail ready capsule solution. For our other partners, we offer retail ready “white label” solutions, streamlining their business.
There are a few capsule pack facilities popping up around Australia now; what is your point of difference?
Firstly, we embody coffee! Mad Coffee Capsules was born out of a very successful coffee roasting business. We bring more than 100 years of combined roasting experience to the table. By implementing stringent quality assurance processes in our SQF and HACCP-certified facility and partnering with the likes of Schubert, Opem, Brambati and Probat, we believe we can produce a product that is unrivalled by other local manufacturers. Our key point of difference, however, is our hermetically-sealed capsule. This means that we produce a capsule without a foil overwrap that is compatible with all Nespresso® coffee machines currently on the market. The nitrogen flush technique used in the production of our hermetically-sealed capsules offers an extended shelf life of 18 months. Since we don’t use any foil overwrap, this also produces less environmental waste.
We roast all our coffee at the same facility where our capsules are produced. We run a 360 kg Brambati roaster, and two Probat Neptune 1500 roasters. We will also be using two Opem eight lane filling machines, each capable of producing 700 capsules per minute! We understand that unless we produce coffee grind at a consistent temperature, we will have fluctuations in our pour times. This is why we don’t use disc grinders. Instead, we use water-cooled roller mills, which each produce 1500 kg of ground coffee an hour.
Which markets are you focusing on: growers, roasters, retailers, public?
We are here to provide our expertise for all segments of the market. The emergence of the single serve espresso market driven beautifully by Nespresso® has opened up the market to non-traditional players, but we realise the importance of servicing the traditional coffee players as well. We are contract manufacturers who have taken the same approach as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters did with the launch of the K-Cup® system – providing a common platform, ours being the capsule platform, for other companies to utilise.
Tell us about the equipment in your factory and the process involved in creating capsules.
We invested heavily in our coffee roasting and capsule production equipment, as only the best will suffice. We have state of the art facilities that will house three Opem capsule filling machines, a 360 kg Brambati roaster, two Probat Neptune 1500 roasters, and the German-made Schubert capsule packaging machine. We will also be adding three 600 kg roasters over the coming year.
The capsule process involves procuring green coffee specific for capsule production and roasting the coffee to a certain level to attain the best flavours for the coffee origins used in the capsule. We use water cooled roller mills to grind the coffee to a specific micron size dependent on roast level. The ground coffee is stored in nitrogen flushed silos for 60 hours. The coffee is then transferred to our Opem capsule filling machine, where it is volumetrically weighed and filled, to each customer’s specific requirements. Each capsule is nitrogen flushed, showing less than 0.01% oxygen residual, giving optimum freshness. The capsules are then transferred to our Schubert capsule packaging machine, where they are boxed in boxes of ten and then put into a retail, shelf-ready carton of 20 boxes. Since our capsules are hermetically-sealed and don’t have a foil overwrap, we are able to achieve one of the smallest retail capsule boxes currently available on the market.
The capacity of your plant is huge. Are you producing at maximum capacity?
It is, but we are scaleable knowing we need to meet the growing needs of this business. We watch what the coffee world is doing and adjust accordingly in a timely fashion. Staying ahead of the game is our focus, and therefore we ensure we continue learning along the way.
Are you using any organic or Rainforest Alliance certified coffees currently?
Not currently; however, we are looking to include both fair trade and organic coffees in our future product offerings.
Where do you see the industry in 5, 10 years’ time?
The capsule market will continue to evolve over the next five to ten years and as the coffee industry in general matures and the demand for café style coffee in the home becomes more ingrained, advances in technology will spawn exciting enhancements. Hopefully, we will be there, delivering ever new and exciting coffee loving experiences for all to enjoy.
*Our capsules are compatible with Nespresso® coffee machines. Nespresso® is a registered trade mark of Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. and neither that company nor its affiliates have manufactured or endorsed our products in any way. Mad Coffee Capsules Pty Ltd and Boss Worldwide Pty Ltd are not affiliated with Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. or its affiliates.