How Fidalgo Coffee Uses Nitrogen to Preserve Freshness in Every Bag

At Fidalgo Coffee, we are passionate about delivering fresh, rich, and aromatic coffee right to your cup. Part of how we achieve this is by using nitrogen — a powerful but often overlooked gas that plays a vital role in keeping your coffee at its best.

What is Nitrogen, and Why is it So Useful?

Nitrogen is an invisible, tasteless, and odorless gas that makes up a whopping 78% of the air we breathe. Despite being so common, it’s also relatively inert, meaning it doesn’t easily react with other substances. Because of this, nitrogen is widely used in various industries to protect products from spoiling or degrading.

In coffee and food packaging, nitrogen has a particularly valuable role. By displacing oxygen — a known enemy of freshness — nitrogen helps maintain the integrity of delicate flavors and aromas. When coffee beans come into contact with oxygen and moisture, they can lose their fresh, vibrant flavor. Nitrogen works to prevent this, preserving coffee’s peak quality for longer.

How We Use Nitrogen to Protect Your Coffee

At Fidalgo Coffee, we use nitrogen-flush packaging technology to give our beans the ideal environment for long-lasting freshness. Here’s how it works: during packaging, we flush each bag with nitrogen to push out oxygen and humidity, then seal it tightly to keep out light, oxygen, and moisture.

This process is more than just a step to maintain freshness. When sealed in nitrogen, our coffee beans actually improve over time, conditioning in the bag for up to 60 days until they reach peak flavor. Even after this, they maintain their rich aroma and flavor for up to 120 days and can stay delicious for up to a year when unopened.

Nitrogen: Safe for You and the Planet

Using nitrogen in coffee packaging isn’t only effective but also safe and environmentally responsible. Nitrogen is a natural component of the air we breathe, making it non-toxic and entirely food-safe. Additionally, nitrogen gas is abundant, renewable, and doesn’t produce any harmful byproducts, making it an eco-friendly choice for protecting quality.

Since nitrogen flushing reduces the need for additional preservatives, this method keeps our coffee both pure and free from unnecessary chemicals. At Fidalgo Coffee, we value both the quality of our coffee and the well-being of the planet, and nitrogen packaging aligns with this commitment.

Freshness That Lasts

Once you open a bag of Fidalgo Coffee, it will start to age naturally, like any roasted coffee, taking about a week before staling becomes noticeable. But until that first opening, our nitrogen flushing ensures that the coffee you receive is fresh, flavorful, and ready for your enjoyment.

A Commitment to Quality with Advanced Packaging

While nitrogen flush packaging was originally pioneered by Illy Caffe in Italy, it’s typically used by large-scale brands. At Fidalgo, we’re proud to be one of the few specialty coffee brands with access to this advanced packaging technology, allowing us to bring you a superior coffee experience every time.

So, next time you savor a cup of Fidalgo Coffee, you’ll know a little more about what goes into preserving that incredible taste — all thanks to nitrogen, a natural and sustainable way to keep coffee fresh.