Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Bury (formerly Chadwicks) has designed and manufactured a lidding solution for the capsules used in a new tea machine.
The T.O by Lipton is the result of five years research and development by brand owner Unilever.
The tea machine, designed for the home, uses ‘loose’ tea-leaf capsules that release tea into a visible brewing orb in order to create the optimum brew, with different water temperatures and brewing times tailored to its individual tea variants.
There are 33 specially blended varieties of tea and infusions available in the capsules.
These range from classics such as Earl Grey, English Breakfast and Ceylon; to unique flavors such as Red Africa Rooibos, Luscious Lemon Verbena and Havana Lime.
All the capsules have perforated alufoil lids, specially designed and produced by Clondalkin Flexible Packaging Bury.
Its two prongs puncture the carefully placed perforations on the lids, allowing water to be ‘injected’ through one side and forcing the tea leaves out of the other side into the brewing chamber to infuse.
There are also different lid sizes for the various different blends which contribute to setting the brewing cycle time and water temperature for that particular variety; as the machine can sense the different lid sizes and adapt its settings accordingly.
The lids are produced from alufoil with the variant name and brand logo de-embossed out of diamond pattern embossed foil.
There are five ‘families’ of tea and infusion flavors differentiated by individual colored lids.
“We are all delighted with the finished T.O by Lipton product. The quality is second to none and the flavors taste fantastic,” said William Leo, research and development director for Unilever. “We first launched in France in September and we plan to roll out to other countries.”
