Gaskets and seals on a bulk container
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What the seal is keeping out
Moisture and aroma, in both directions. The product pulls water from the air and takes up smells from the room, and a lid that sits rather than seals lets both happen continuously. Oxygen matters too and is harder to exclude in a container opened daily.
A gasket is not the same as a tight lid
A press-fit lid without a gasket can feel secure and still leak air steadily. A gasketed lid makes contact around a continuous surface, which is a different mechanism. On this shelf several containers have gasketed lids specifically and that is the feature to look for.
It only works if somebody closes it
The most common failure in a busy cafe or refill counter is a lid resting on top between customers. No gasket survives that, and it is a training and layout problem rather than a packaging one. Containers that are quick to close actually get closed.
Check the closure match, not the diameter
Every container page lists the closures verified against its own neck rather than leaving you to match them by eye. Several formats on this shelf have no threaded neck at all and take a specific lid, which is exactly the case where guessing from a measurement goes wrong.
Think about how it opens
A pail lid that requires a tool is secure and wrong for a counter opened thirty times a day. A canister lid that comes off in one movement is right there and wrong for long-term sealed storage. These are different jobs and often different containers.
Smell a new container before filling it
Plastic can carry a residual manufacturing smell, and these two products will take it up. Opening a case and checking costs nothing and prevents a problem that otherwise gets blamed on the coffee.