Plastic coffee container with top load support by particulate product

A rigid container for a particulate coffee with enhanced top load support, comprising:

• an interior volume holding at least one liter and formed by a base, a surrounding wall member upstanding from said base, a top with an enlarged opening sufficient for a five inch cylinder to fit therethrough, a flexible closure attached to said top and spanning said top opening, and a one-way valve provided in said flexible closure;
• wherein said base, said surrounding wall member and said top are formed of a plastic material, and said surrounding wall member has a wall thickness which is greater adjacent said top than adjacent said base;
• and
• a particulate compacted coffee provided in said interior volume, said particulate compacted coffee provided in sufficient quantity to fill said interior volume up to where a predetermined minimum headspace is provided, the predetermined minimum headspace being that which produces a top load ratio of at least 3:1, where the top load ratio is defined as a ratio of the top load force sufficient to cause a 0.30″ deflection in the plastic container when filled to the predetermined minimum headspace over the top load force sufficient to cause a 0.30″ deflection in the plastic container when empty;
• and
• wherein said predetermined minimum headspace is also sufficient so that about 20% of said flexible closure contacts a top portion of said particulate product when a pressure of said interior volume is 3 psi less than ambient and causes said flexible closure to flex inward.