Seven groups at a glance
Food plants combine several kinds of machine: preparation and cooking, forming, filling, sealing and wrapping. We group ours by what the machine does to the product, which is also how to shortlist.
| Group | What it is | Typical size in our range | Suits | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slaughter & meat processing | Mobile slaughter unit, grinder, sausage filler, smokehouse | Grinder about 220 to 400 kg/h; smokehouse 90 to 270 kg per batch | Butchers, small meat plants | Meat processing |
| Dairy, butter & ghee lines | Pasteurizer, cream tank, butter churn, CIP | Custom designed; capacity set per project | Dairies adding butter or ghee | Dairy lines |
| Bakery, flatbread & snack lines | Biscuit, cookie, wafer, flatbread, tortilla and chips lines | 100 to 1,250 kg/h biscuit lines; chips 100 to 5,000 kg/h; flatbread up to 12,000 kg dough/h | Bakeries, snack makers | Bakery & snack |
| Beverage, water & distilling lines | PET, glass and can lines; bottled water; micro distillery | 4,000 to 16,000 bottles per hour on bottle lines | Water, soft drink, juice, spirits | Beverage lines |
| Filling machines | Pouch, sachet and liquid filling | Sachet machines about 25 to 50 bags/min | Sauces, juice, detergent, shampoo | Filling machines |
| Form-fill-seal | Vertical bagging for powder, granules, snacks | About 20 to 100 bags/min; powder bags 500 to 5,000 g | Coffee, sugar, nuts, snacks | Form-fill-seal |
| Flow wrappers | Horizontal pillow-bag wrapping | About 80 to 120 bags/min on the bar and biscuit model | Biscuits, bars, soap, bread | Flow wrappers |
How to choose between the groups
Start with the product, because it fixes the machine type. Raw meat needs cutting, filling and thermal processing; dough needs forming and baking; liquids need a filler with the right valve for viscosity and foam; dry products need weighing and a forming tube; solid items need a wrapper. Most plants end up needing two groups: a processing line plus a packing machine. For example, a biscuit line at 1,000 kg/h needs a wrapper that can keep pace downstream, and our biscuit machine price and line choice guide explains that match. For liquids, liquid filling machine types and how to choose goes deeper.
Output is the second filter, but the units differ by group: kilograms per hour for bakery and chips, bottles per hour for beverage lines, bags per minute for packers. Convert to one number before comparing. Worked example (illustrative): 4,000 bottles per hour of 500 ml water is 2,000 L per hour, or about 33 L per minute of filled product.
Lines, machines and what is custom
Some of our items are fixed machines with a stated rating, such as the grinder or a vertical bagger. Others are lines designed per project: the cream, butter and ghee line, the bottled water line and the micro distillery are all specified from your raw material, capacity and building, so their figures are a starting point rather than a catalogue number. Ask for the layout and the equipment list together with the price, and check that the packing stage can run at the speed of the line before it.
Power, voltage and climate
Bench-top machines such as the tortilla press (110 or 220 V, 60 Hz) and the cookie machine (220 V) are for single-phase supply. Production lines normally run on three-phase, with biscuit and bottling lines listed at 380 V. Heating for ovens and fryers can be gas or electric, so pick what is cheapest where you are. Hot, humid markets deserve attention to ventilation, water quality and cold storage for raw materials.
Planning the purchase
- Write the product list and daily output first, and the shifts you run.
- Decide the pack: bottle, pouch, bag, pillow wrap, and sizes.
- Plan utilities: water, steam or gas, compressed air, drains.
- Allow floor space and access for a line; our biscuit line lengths are 29 to 125 m depending on configuration.
What to send for a quote
- Product, pack format and size, and output per hour.
- Voltage, frequency, phase and available utilities.
- Floor plan or room dimensions.
- Automation level and any labelling or coding needs.
- Destination port and local food-contact rules.
You can start with a single group page above, or tell us the product and we will point you to the right one.