The humble tea bag has been undergoing a make-over recently, increasingly finding its way into the specialty and value-added segments with a range of innovations and developments geared to servicing the growing upper-end of the market. Ahlstrom’s recent offering promises to fuel further interest and solutions in an industry that does not typically garner a lot of attention from consumers.

"Ahlstrom’s latest foray into the tea bag segment is not a departure from traditional core infusion filter paper business, it is an addition to the range," Michael D. Black, general manger of Ahlstrom’s food product line told Tea & Coffee Asia.

The new fine fiber web product providing eco-friendly polymer designs ideal for pyramid tea bags, was officially launched at the recent Tea & Coffee World Cup/ASIA 2008 exhibition held in Hyderabad, India, last November 20-22.

Ahlstrom invested approximately US$40 million in the project to build a brand new machine and facilities at its Chirnside, Scotland, UK, plant. The investment is in line with Ahlstrom’s growth strategy, and the product development is aimed primarily at the food and beverage sectors. Commercial production of the new material, which is unique to Ahlstrom and uses low basis weight spunmelt technology, started at the end of 2008. The plant now produces the widest range of beverage filtration materials under one roof, including the new fine fiber web for premium tea infusions and the traditional heat-sealable and non heat-sealable filter paper.

"The growth in the use of tea bags and coffee pods looks like it will remain at 5% or more per annum, despite the economic recession," Black said. "Within this segment, the market for premium products is growing at over 20% per annum."

The new line represents the fruits of a well resourced technical and commercial program and provides an eco-friendly, sustainable and affordable solution for high-end and specialty tea packers, designed for conversion on tea-packing machines using ultrasonic sealing technology.

"The trend towards the production of premium and specialty teas using larger particles requires filter materials with greater transparency and superior taste neutrality compared to traditional tea bag papers" Black said. "The added advantage of reduced environmental impact compared to oil-based products that have traditionally been used in pyramid tea bags make this the obvious choice for today’s and tomorrow’s increasingly environmentally aware consumers and manufacturers across the world."

Using renewable biopolymers manufactured from corn starch, products created with the new raw materials are biodegradable, compostable and sustainable. The principal ingredient is polylactic acid (PLA), derived from yellow dent corn. PLA is made from the corn starch component which comprises 62% of the corn kernel. The remainder of the corn contains the high value protein element used for feedstuff, food and other industrial products.

To emphasize the environmentally-friendly nature of product, Black noted that "even the waste generated in the manufacturing process of this material is completely recycled to create more raw material of this type. There is therefore no waste at all, so no landfill stress."

An independent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) has been carried out by an external academic institute in Europe according to ISO 14040 standard. This has confirmed that the CO2 emissions (commonly known as the carbon footprint) are significantly lower using Ahlstrom PLA web compared to equivalent oil-based polyester or polyolefin web fiber products. Tests have also been carried out to ensure the biodegradability and disposability of the product conforms to EU industrial composting norm EN13432.

Aside from its superior infusion, biodegradability and composting qualities, the PLA based nonwoven material adds value to products and provides the opportunity to create visible and tangible differentiation leading to increased consumer awareness of premium quality product offerings.

None of this is to say that Ahlstrom is intending to make any radical departures from the successful product range enjoyed by millions of tea and coffee producers and consumers around the globe.

"As a company, Ahlstrom continues to invest in its wetlaid processes for the production of traditional beverage filter papers and has increased its production capacity by 15% over the last two years," said Black.