01Scope
A distributor of manufacturers, for value-adding fish
When you search for seafood processing equipment manufacturers, most of what you find in Australia is a mix of factories and the local companies that sell, install and service their machines. We are the second kind. The manufacturers design and build the equipment overseas; we quote and supply it, install it and look after it afterwards, with our own technicians and spare parts stock.
The name causes some confusion. VEMAG Maschinenbau GmbH, in Verden in Germany, is a manufacturer of vacuum fillers. Vemag Australia is a separate business that distributes VEMAG's machines along with those of the other manufacturers on this page.
Our seafood coverage is further processing: work done on fillets, portions, trim and fish mass after the fish has been gutted and filleted somewhere else.
- Covered here: brine preparation and injection, in-line weighing, dicing and cutting, chopping and emulsifying fish mass, forming, smoking, and sealing finished packs.
- Not covered: heading, gutting, filleting, pin-boning or skinning machines, shellfish equipment of any kind, freezing, coating and frying. None of these are in our catalogue, and you will need a specialist manufacturer for them.
02Manufacturers
The five manufacturers, and what each one makes for fish
Each card names the manufacturer, where it is based and how we supply it. Fomaco and Holac describe their ranges in terms of fish, and Vetec names fish among its clients' products. For Seydelmann and Variovac, the fish work is stated in one machine's listing.
Brine injection
Fomaco
Fomaco A/S, Køge, Denmark
Official distributor for Australia
Fomaco builds injectors for curing and marinating meat, poultry and fish, and publishes a separate fish range on its website. That range lists the M2 and M3 injectors, needle heads, filters, in-line weight control and brine mixers with storage tanks, so most of an injection line for fish can come from one maker.
Dicing and cutting
Holac
holac Maschinenbau GmbH, Nattheim, Germany
Official distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Holac designs cutting machines for meat, cheese, fish, vegetables and plant-based alternatives, from multi-purpose dicers such as the Cubixx series to slicers and strip cutters. The Holac listings in our catalogue are written around meat and cheese, so a trial cut on your own fish is the way to settle the choice.
Chopping and emulsifying
Seydelmann
Maschinenfabrik Seydelmann KG, Stuttgart, Germany
Official distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Seydelmann builds cutters, grinders, mixers and emulsifiers for meat and food processing. Its K40 cutter is the exception that matters here: the listing names fish among the materials it chops, mixes and emulsifies.
Smoking and maturing
Vetec
VETEC Anlagenbau GmbH, Verden, Germany
Official distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Vetec builds installations for smoking, cooking, cooling, drying and thawing food, and names fish among the products its industrial clients make. Its Climamat installations are built for maturing and cold-smoking.
Skin and MAP packing
Variovac
VARIOVAC PS SystemPack GmbH, Zarrentin am Schaalsee, Germany
Official distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Variovac builds thermoforming packaging machines and tray sealers. The Optimus EasySkin listing describes it for high-quality products such as meat and seafood, in skin packs or, with the film redirected, in MAP packs.
03Stages
Seafood processing equipment by stage
The stages follow the usual order for fish that is cured, cut, formed, smoked or packed. Each opens the matching machine type page, where the whole range is listed; where a stage lists machines, they are ones whose own listing, or whose manufacturer's fish range, supports the work.
Stage 1Brine mixers & tanks
Mixing and holding brine
Salt, sugar and any functional ingredients have to be fully dissolved before they reach the needles. The Fomaco FBM brine mixers fill the tank with water on their own and pull dry ingredients from the hopper through a Venturi system, and the FST storage tanks can be supplied with a ProShear mixer for very heavy brines. Fomaco lists both under its fish equipment.
Stage 2Brine injectors
Injecting fillets and portions
Injection delivers a set dose of brine into each fillet rather than waiting for salt to work in from the surface, which is why it is used ahead of hot- and cold-smoking. Fomaco's M2 models, from the FGM 26 M2 with a 350 mm belt, switch their needle head valves individually and inject only while the needles are in the fish, so far less brine returns to the tank. The M3 comes in four sizes up to the FGM 112 with a 950 mm belt. Fish brine carries scales and protein back with it, and the CBF 500P belt filter, matched to the M3 sizes, is for plants that need more filtering than a rotary filter gives.
Stage 3Inspection & weight control
Weighing before and after injection
The Fomaco IWC units weigh product on the way into the injector and again on the way out, so the brine each batch takes up is measured as the line runs rather than by sampling. They are listed as compatible with the FGM 48, FGM 64, FGM 88 and FGM 112, and are powered by the injector itself.
Stage 4Slicers & dicers
Dicing and cutting
Cubes and strips of fish for ready meals, salads and fillings need a cut that stays clean as the product softens. Holac lists fish among the products its machines cut, but none of its catalogue listings name fish, so this stage links the type page without picking machines. Send us your species and the temperature it is cut at.
Stage 5Bowl cutters & emulsifiers
Chopping and emulsifying fish mass
Fish cakes, fish sausages and spreads start as a chopped or emulsified mass. The Seydelmann K40 has a 40 litre bowl, and its listing names fish among the materials it handles, at temperatures from -12 °C up to 85 °C. The bowl cutter guide compares it with the larger cutters.
- K40Bowl Cutter
Stage 6Portioning & forming machines
Forming fish products
Once the mass is mixed, a former gives every piece the same shape and weight. The APF253 Automated Product Former shapes fish, as well as meat and vegetable mass, into rounds, ovals or custom shapes, and its listing aims it at small and mid-sized companies. The DJM-VF06 belongs to a line of plate formers whose listing says fish sticks are possible, and it takes an automatic paper interleaver so the pieces stack without sticking.
- Automatic Product Former 253Forming Attachment
- DJM-VF06Forming Machine
Stage 7Cooking, smoking & drying
Smoking and maturing
Hot-smoked fish is cooked in the chamber, while cold-smoked fish is held well below cooking temperature for a long, slow cycle. The Climamat listing describes installations for maturing and cold-smoking, with their own air-flow systems, adapted to each customer's products and capacity. Vetec names fish among the products its clients make; whether a particular installation suits your fish is settled in the quotation, not on this page.
- ClimamatMaturing & Smoking System
Stage 8Thermoformers & packaging
Skin packing and sealing
Skin packing pulls a film tight over the portion and the base, which holds a fillet flat and shows it off on the shelf. The Variovac Optimus EasySkin handles products standing up to 55 mm above the base in skin packs, and the same module packs in MAP, up to 110 mm deep, when the film is redirected. The tray sealers page covers sealing pre-made trays instead.
- Optimus EasySkinThermoformer
04Illustrations
Three seafood product routes, as illustrations
The table shows how the stages might come together for three kinds of product. They are illustrations put together from the machine types above. None of them describes a line we have put in, and no row has been checked for fit against another. What you actually need comes down to your species, product, volumes and the equipment already on your floor.
| Row | Brined and smoked fillets | Formed fish products | Packed fresh portions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting material | Skin-on or skinless fillets | Fish trim or mince with binder and seasoning | Portioned fillets or loins |
| Preparation | Brine mixed and held in a brine mixer or storage tank | Chopping or emulsifying in a bowl cutter | Cutting to size, or dicing for ready-meal components |
| Main stage | Injection, with weighing before and after | Shaping on a product former or plate former | Skin or MAP packing on a thermoformer |
| Thermal step | Hot- or cold-smoking in a smoking installation | Coating, frying or freezing, on equipment we do not supply | None |
| Packing | Skin pack or vacuum pack | Interleaved stacks, then sealed packs | Skin pack, MAP pack or sealed tray |
Where a route passes through equipment we do not supply, such as a freezer or a coating line, tell us how product arrives and leaves it, so the machines either side can be planned around it. Planning a processing line explains what we need to know to do that.
05Buying
How to compare seafood processing equipment manufacturers
Fish is softer, flakier and wetter than red meat, and many machines sold for seafood began as meat machines. These questions help separate equipment built with fish in mind from equipment that merely tolerates it.
- Does the manufacturer publish fish work? A dedicated fish range, as Fomaco has, or a listing that names fish, as the K40 and APF253 do, is firmer ground than a general food claim.
- Will the pieces fit the machine? Injector belt widths in our catalogue run from 350 mm to 950 mm, and the M2 injectors accept product up to 200 mm high; skin packs on the Optimus EasySkin take up to 55 mm above the base.
- What temperature is the fish at? The K40 is listed for product from -12 °C up to 85 °C, and cutting and forming results change as fish warms, so give us the temperature at each stage.
- How is the brine kept clean? Ask what filter comes with an injector and what the step up is. The FGM 48 lists an FM80 protein filter, and the CBF 500P belt filter is for medium and large production.
- Which parts of the line work together? The IWC units and the CBF 500P are listed for the M3 injectors (FGM 48 to FGM 112), not the M2 models.
- Who looks after it here? An overseas manufacturer's machine is only as useful as the local service and parts behind it, so ask any supplier who installs it, who repairs it and where the parts are held.
If you are comparing quotes from several suppliers, put the same questions to each of them, including us.
06Support
Trials, service and spare parts in Australia
We are the official distributor in Australia for every manufacturer on this page, and the equipment we supply is serviced by our own technicians and supported by our spare parts desk. Before you commit, ask whether the machines for your stage can be trialled at our Customer Centre with your own product.
01
Customer Centre
Bring a batch of your own product and see how it behaves on the machine before an order is placed.
02
Service
Our technicians install new equipment, train your operators, and handle scheduled maintenance and breakdown repairs.
03
Spare parts
A local stock of genuine parts, and people who can identify the part you need from your machine's details.
07FAQ
Seafood processing equipment questions
Is Vemag Australia a seafood processing equipment manufacturer?
No. We are a distributor. The machines on this page are designed and built by Fomaco, Holac, Seydelmann, Vetec and Variovac, and we sell, install and service them here. VEMAG Maschinenbau GmbH in Germany, which builds vacuum fillers, is a separate company whose machines we also distribute.
Do you supply filleting, skinning or shellfish equipment?
No. Our catalogue starts after filleting. We have no heading, gutting, filleting, pin-boning or skinning machines and no equipment for prawns, oysters, mussels or other shellfish, so for those you will need a specialist manufacturer.
Can a brine injector be used on fish?
Yes. Fomaco builds its injectors for meat, poultry and fish and lists the M2 and M3 in its fish range. Which model suits depends on the size and texture of your fillets, the brine and your volume, so tell us all three. The injecting stage lists the models.
Which machines make fish cakes or fish fingers?
Usually a bowl cutter to chop and bind the fish mass, then a former to shape it. The Seydelmann K40 lists fish among the materials it handles, the APF253 forms round, oval or custom shapes from fish, and the DJM-VF06 listing says fish sticks are possible. See the chopping and forming stages.
Can I skin pack fresh fish portions?
The Variovac Optimus EasySkin is described for high-quality products such as meat and seafood and takes a product protrusion of up to 55 mm in skin packs. It can also pack in MAP. Tell us the portion size and the trays or base film you want, and we will confirm the set-up.
Can I trial my seafood product before buying?
Ask us. Our Customer Centre runs customers' own products on machines from our range under production conditions. Tell us your product and the stage you want to test, and we will tell you what can be set up.
How much does seafood processing equipment cost?
Prices are not listed on the site. A quotation depends on which machines you need, in which sizes and with which options, and how they link to what you already run, so send us your products and expected volumes and we will price them.