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Food packaging machinery

Food packaging machinery closes a product into a sealed pack that protects it on the way to the customer and, packed under vacuum or a modified atmosphere, helps it keep longer. The packaging machines in our catalogue run from Variovac thermoformers and tray sealers to Supervac vacuum packaging machines and the shrink, cooling and drying equipment that follows them, with JLS robotic systems for loading.

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PicturedGK501B

Overview

About food packaging machinery

A thermoformer, also called a form-fill-seal machine, heats a roll of bottom film and forms it into pockets in a die. The pockets are filled on the machine, a top film is sealed on plain, under vacuum or under a modified atmosphere (MAP), and the packs are cut apart. In a skin pack the heated top film is drawn down tight over the product. A tray sealer lids trays that were made elsewhere.

A vacuum chamber belt machine takes product that is already in a bag, evacuates the chamber, seals the bag and carries it out on the belt. A shrink bag can then pass through a shrink tank, where hot water tightens the film against the product, then a cooling tank and a drying tunnel. Meat, sausage, cheese, prepared food and bakery producers weigh the product's shape, the pack they want on the shelf, output and material cost when they choose between these formats.

Compare vacuum packaging machines for products packed in bags, or use the format guide below to choose between bags, trays and thermoformed packs.

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Equipment

20 food packaging machines

The machines in the catalogue classed as food packaging machinery, listed by manufacturer range. Open one for details or ask which suits your product.

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Pack formats

Choosing food packaging machinery by pack

Start from the pack rather than the machine. The pack decides whether the container is formed on the machine, bought in as a tray or supplied as a bag, and that decides which kind of packaging machine does the work. These are the formats covered in our equipment catalogue:

  • Thermoformed packs: the machine forms the pack from a roll of bottom film, so the pack size is set by the die. Where their pack types are published, the Variovac thermoformers compared on our thermoformers page list sealed, vacuum and MAP packs, and the Optimus EasySkin, Primus and Primus MP also list skin packs.
  • Pre-made trays: a tray sealer lids trays that are bought in and filled before sealing. Our tray sealers page compares the semi-automatic and fully automatic models from Variovac and Ross.
  • Bags: a vacuum packaging machine with a chamber and belt seals product already in a bag, and shrink, cooling and drying equipment can follow it. See vacuum packaging machines and shrink tanks below.
  • Loading: robots and loading lines put product into the pack, ahead of the sealing station. See loading and lane equipment below.

Packing vegetables rather than meat? Our page on vegetable packaging machines follows the same formats for fresh-cut, cooked and formed vegetable products.

For loading, inspection and sealing arranged around meat products, see meat packaging equipment.

Bags and shrink

Vacuum packaging machines, shrink tanks and drying

Supervac vacuum packaging machines seal products in bags. A chamber and conveyor belt arrangement suits a different pack format from a thermoformer, which forms packs from film. The catalogue also includes shrink tanks, cooling tanks and drying equipment for use after bag sealing.

Compare the GK501B and GK 1600 B on our vacuum packaging machines page, including the information to prepare for a quotation and the published matching information for shrink equipment.

Upstream

Loading packs and joining lanes

Product has to reach the packaging machine in the right place and spacing. The catalogue includes equipment for that step. These examples are illustrative: each is described from its own published data, and none is presented as matched to a particular packaging machine on this page.

  • JLS Robotic Systems: JLS builds hygienic, vision-guided robots that load product into thermoformed packs, trays and vacuum skin packs, and handle carton loading and case packing.
  • Variotrack Eco 2.0: a line converger that combines product lanes into a single lane, described in its listing as a complement to Variovac thermoforming machines.
  • LL335: a link loader that takes cut fresh sausage and loads it into trays and thermoformed pouches.
  • TD315: a denester cassette that supplies trays, with formats changed by swapping the cassette.

For conveyors and loading lines, see loading lines and conveyors, and our guide to planning a processing line sets out the stages around your product.

Next step

What to tell us about your pack

Packaging machines are specified around the pack, so a quote starts with the product and the pack you want rather than a model number. When you contact us, it helps to have:

  • the product, its size and shape, and whether it is fresh, cooked, frozen or sliced; for meat, the cut and whether it is bone-in;
  • the pack: a bag, a pre-made tray or a thermoformed pack, sealed plain, vacuum packed, under MAP or as a skin pack;
  • the film, bags or trays you use now, if any;
  • the output you need and the floor space you have;
  • how product reaches packaging today, by hand or from a line.

You can also ask about a demonstration at our Customer Centre. Once a machine is running, our service and spare parts teams support customers across Australia and New Zealand.

Related

Industries and applications

Browse equipment by the food sector you work in, or by the product you make.

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Other machine types

Every machine type in the catalogue, with the number of machines listed under each.

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Contact

Talk to us about food packaging machinery

Ask for advice, a quotation or a consultation — by phone, by email or through the enquiry form.

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