A food processing device configured to process a food product stored in a pod is disclosed. The food processing device may further include a drive assembly. The drive assembly may include a drive motor configured to move linearly in the vertical direction, and a linear actuator coupled to the drive motor. The linear actuator may cause the drive motor to move linearly in the vertical direction. The drive assembly may further include a drive shaft coupled to the drive motor. The drive shaft may be configured to engage or disengage with the top shaft of the pod owing to the linear movement of the drive motor in vertical direction. Upon engaging with the tops shaft of the pod, the drive shaft may be further configured to impart rotary motion to the top shaft.

The present invention relates to a cartridge containing a beverage preparation ingredient and a beverage preparation apparatus for use with the cartridge. At least one of the surfaces of the cartridge comprises a patch of material, said patch being adapted to be at least partially dissolved or removed by fluid entering or flowing around the cartridge and to cause a detectable change indicating that fluid has made contact with the patch of material.

A capsule for the preparation of a beverage can include a container and a beverage ingredient contained therein. The container can include at least one support having a section on which a plurality of sequences of symbols is represented; each symbol is sequentially readable, by a reading arrangement of an external device, while the capsule is rotated along an axis of rotation. Each sequence can code a set of information related to the capsule, and at least one of the sequences can include symbols defining a preamble sequence that allows determination of a position of the symbols in the associated sequence coding the set of information related to the capsule. The container can include a cup-shaped body having a flange-like rim and a lid connected to the body, the support can be on a bottom of the rim, and the bottom of the rim can be opposed to the lid.

A die-cut lid (20) for closing a container is disclosed; the lid being formed from a flexible composite sheet material (30). The lid comprises a functional area (70) bearing human-readable and/or machine-readable data with the lid comprising one or more rigidifying indentations (50) to promote flatness of the functional area in a resting state of the lid. The one or more rigidifying indentations are selected from the group of: i) one or more encircling indentations that border the functional area; and/or ii) a planar indentation that encompasses the functional area. A lidded container (1) comprising such a die-cut lid and a method of forming a die-cut lid are also described.

A single-serve capsule for making a beverage, including: a base element with a cavity, in which a raw beverage material is provided, the base element is made of a biodegradable material; a flange extending outwardly from the base element, the flange including a top side and an opposing bottom side; and a cover that is fastened to the top side of the flange to close the cavity, the cover is made of a different material than the base element; wherein the single-serve capsule is free of a filter; and wherein the capsule has an identifier, which makes it possible to individualize the respective single-serve capsule, the identifier is provided on the bottom side of the flange.

A single-serve capsule for making a beverage, having a base element with a cavity that is free of a filter, and in which a raw beverage material is provided, the cavity including radially spaced and vertically oriented convexities, where a width defined between each of the plurality of convexities is wider than a width of each of plurality of convexities, the base element has a wall region extending between the flange and a bottom region of the base element with radially spaced and vertically oriented grooves, a width of the side wall defined between each of the plurality of grooves is wider than a width of each of plurality of grooves, the capsule has an identifier, which makes it possible to individualize the single-serve capsule, the identifier is a barcode on the wall region and on a bottom side of the flange.

A single-serve capsule for making a beverage, having: a base element with a cavity, in which a raw beverage material is provided, the base element is made of a biodegradable material, a flange extending outwardly from the base element, the flange comprising a top side and an opposing bottom side, and a cover that is fastened to the top side of the flange to close the cavity, the cover is made of a same material as the base element. The single-serve capsule is free of a filter, and has an identifier, which makes it possible to individualize the respective single-serve capsule, the identifier is provided on the bottom side of the flange.

A capsule is designed for insertion in a centrifugal beverage production device for preparing a beverage from a substance contained in the capsule by introducing liquid in the capsule and passing the liquid through the substance using centrifugal forces. The capsule includes a body having a bottom end and an open end spaced apart in the axial direction, an upper wall for covering the body at the open end along a direction transverse to the axial direction, and an enclosure between the body and the upper wall containing a predetermined amount of beverage substance. The capsule further includes an annular pressure-setting ring configured for adjusting the backpressure in the beverage production device. The pressure-setting ring provides an improved coffee in-cup quality. A set of capsules can have pressure-setting rings of different dimensions for setting different backpressure when engaged in a centrifuging beverage production device.

A container contains a beverage base material in a beverage base material chamber defined by a chamber bottom and a chamber wall. The container furthermore comprises an elongated handle extending in a direction having a radial component outward from the chamber. The handle is provided with an outlet channel extending from the chamber to a channel outlet provided at the free end of the handle. A beverage preparation system for preparing a beverage includes an automatic beverage preparation apparatus and such a container and is arranged for removably connecting the container to the apparatus such that the handle is positioned vertically with the channel outlet pointing downwards. A method of preparing a beverage using such a beverage preparation system in which the container is connected to the apparatus such that the handle is positioned vertically with the channel outlet pointing downwards for dispensing a beverage from the beverage base material chamber substantially vertically.

A beverage machine, in particular a coffee machine, prepares a beverage using water supplied via a fixed water connection to a hydraulic part arranged in the beverage machine and outputs the beverage at an outlet of the beverage machine. Maintenance is simplified by the fact that the beverage machine is provided with a cartridge holder which is accessible from the outside and into which a cartridge can be inserted in an exchangeable manner, the cartridge includes a cartridge connection on the inlet side and a cartridge connection on the outlet side, via which, in the inserted state of the cartridge, water supplied to the beverage machine via the fixed water connection flows through the cartridge and is thereby filtered and/or enriched with additives.