Dunkin' Microwaveable Coffee

Home / Past Competitions / 2022 / Dunkin' Microwaveable Coffee

Dunkin' Microwaveable Coffee

School:Rochester Institute of Technology
Team:Dania Wahl, Zhijie Yan, Taraquee Nalawade

'Tis coffee time any time because some part of the world is always up for coffee!
We all know that coffee is a much-loved beverage and a packaged one is known to be vital for
quite a large part of the population’s daily on-the-go lifestyle. But like everything else, there is a
downside to this too. The on-the-go coffee is mostly cold or gets cold and is packaged in containers
that aren’t suitable to be heated up.
Not anymore! Dunkin’ Coffee brings to you microwaveable coffee that’s ready in 1 minute. Yes,
you read that right. Dunkin’ Coffee will now be available in a translucent, microwaveable bottle.
You'll get a peek of your favorite coffee inside and will be able to enjoy a uniformly heated drink,
without having to hold a bottle that is hot on the outside.
Is this ease of use achievable, you ask? Well, for that we have considered to package coffee in a
HDPE or high-density LDPE bottle that can be manufactured with nylon/PA6 co-polymer and
compatibilizers, where compatibilizers act as a catalyst in the package and help ease the recycling
process. Additionally, the translucent bottles can be manufactured without the masterbatch or
TiO2, to make them economical.
We have also focused on the design of the bottle that will provide a good grip and will have an
added feature with braille on the sides of the bottle that translate to “Recycle me” and
“Microwaveable”. Moreover, we suggest replacing the shrink film with in-mold labels that
instantly raise the bottle's sustainability and recyclability quotients while making it cost-effective
due to the reduced packaging cost. What more? We also have added a tamper evident feature that
is made of LDPE and simply sits below the bottle cap with the name of the product displayed on
it. From reusability of the basic design standpoint, we have decided to replicate the overall
dimensions of the iced coffee bottle that is available in the market currently to manufacture the hot
coffee bottles. This also means that they can fit in cup holders, giving good portability too. These
dimensions will help the manufacturers produce the primary package for hot coffee bottle using
the dimensions they already follow. They can also manufacture the secondary package with the
current dimensions and materials for both hot and cold coffee bottles, thus making the
manufacturing process efficient.
Holistically speaking, the bottle's composition and design aid in enhanced consumer experience
and encourages recyclability and sustainability.
The fast-paced modern lifestyle is revolutionizing an array of products and Dunkin’ Coffee stands
true to the requirement of this modern lifestyle.
Come, grab your bottle!

Design Rationale Document