What is a Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate? And Why Should I Care?
So you started your marijuana business and things are really starting to pick up. You’ve decided to start packaging your edibles/shake/buds etc. and every time you try and replace your turkey bag you keep hearing about barrier packaging and moisture and oxygen transmission rates. Seriously, what the heck is that? And why should you care? The answer has to do with the quality of your product and the shelf life while it’s sitting in a bag. Basically, how long will the product last sitting on a shelf and how long can your end use customer enjoy it before it gets dried out and stale.
The Angel’s Share: Lost Moisture = Lost $
In the world of whiskey there is the idea of the Angel’s share, it is the alcohol that evaporates as the whiskey is aged in casks. Well unfortunately the same angel likes her weed too! The more weed dries out the less it weights. That weed you bought for resale will continue to loose moisture and weigh less if you do not keep it in a moisture controlled package. Also when moisture migrates into a product it can affect the taste, texture and overall quality. Some products, like weed buds, you want to keep the moisture inside of the package so that it maintains its freshness and weight.
Barrier packaging prevents weed from continuing to dry out and loose weight!
Dry and Stale Edibles Suck
For other products, such as dry edibles like cookies, granola or brownies, you want to keep the moisture content stable, but it is equally important to keep moisture out of the package so that it maintains its freshness and does not mold. Moisture can either be the friend or enemy of your product depending on what is being packaged.
Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate (MVTR)
That’s where barrier packaging comes in. When evaluating a packaging material the “Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate” (MVTR) is the measure of how easily moisture can penetrate the packaging film. The higher the MVTR value, the greater the penetration rate (i.e. the faster moisture can get into or out of a package), and the lower the MVTR the stronger the ability of a package to keep dry goods like cookies moist (because it’s not letting additional moisture into the package) and moist products like buds moist (because its keeping the moisture that already exist in the product inside the package).
There are all sorts of factors that can affect the moisture transmission into a package, everything from the thickness of a material to the coatings used on the film. Luckily for you, Containers4Marijuana are the foremost packaging experts for the marijuana industry. We are here to help guide you to a package that will keep your product as fresh as the day it left your farm, grow house, bakery or dispensary.
Moisture transmission often needs to be balanced with Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) in order to provide the best barrier solution for a product’s needs. Come back for our next blog post where we explore the wonderful world of oxygen permeability (or rather what makes shit stale) and why you shouldn’t plan any trips to Mars.
All our barrier bags and pouches for cannabis control moisture transmission.
