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What does it cost to pack 1,000 coffee bags on a VFFS line?
About US$50 to US$100 per 1,000 bags for a 250 g valve bag on a VFFS line. That covers film, valve, nitrogen and direct labour, and excludes the machine. Premade valve pouches replace the whole film-and-valve stack at roughly US$100 to US$140 per 1,000.
The film number is the one worth checking, because it can be calculated from the bag dimensions before you ask anyone for a quotation.
The build-up for a 250 g bag
| Cost element | Basis | Per 1,000 bags |
|---|---|---|
| Roll film | 6.2 g per bag, US$4.20 per kg | About US$26 |
| One-way valve | US$0.02 to US$0.06 each | US$20 to US$60 |
| Nitrogen flush | Small consumption per bag | Under US$1 |
| Direct labour | One operator, 30 bags per minute, US$6 to US$25 per hour | US$3 to US$14 |
| Total | About US$50 to US$100 |
Where 6.2 g per bag comes from
Film consumed per bag is the film width multiplied by the bag length plus the transverse seal, and the film width is twice the finished bag width plus the back seal allowance.
- 250 g bag, 100 mm wide by 250 mm long
- Film width = 2 × 100 + 20 = 220 mm
- Film per cycle = 220 × (250 + 8) = 0.0568 m²
- A PET12 / AL7 / PE80 laminate weighs about 109.3 g/m²
- So one bag consumes 6.2 g of film
Change the bag and the number moves with it: 500 g at 130 × 300 mm is 9.4 g, and 1 kg at 160 × 340 mm is 12.9 g. A millimetre saved on width is worth two millimetres saved on length, because width is doubled by the tube.
What is not in the US$50 to US$100
Excluded on purpose: machine depreciation, factory overhead, secondary packaging (cartons, labels, tape), palletising, and quality hold. Add those before comparing against a co-packer quote, which always includes them. A co-packer charging US$0.35 per bag is charging about US$350 per 1,000 for the same work plus their margin and overhead.
Machine price ranges sit alongside these running costs in the 2026 coffee packaging machine cost guide. The material comparison is in kraft paper versus foil coffee bags.
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