A Look Inside: Food Service

Whether you create salad dressing, snack foods, drinks, or another type of edible product, you need equipment to help you package it safely and efficiently. Food packaging supplies can streamline your packaging process in a number of ways. These are four things that food packaging equipment can do for your manufacturing company:

1. Pack and seal pouches.

Pouches are a low-weight, durable way to package liquids, gels, and other food items. You can purchase packaging equipment designed to cut pouches to size and extrude pastes, gels, and liquids into those pouches. Packaging equipment can also sort items, such as nuts, and fill pouches by weight. Filled pouches can then be sealed shut using heat and cut to size. Pouches are ideal for storing yogurts, salad dressings, nut butters, and more.

2. Bottle sauces, soft drinks, and beverages.

Bottling is another popular type of food packaging. Many popular sauces are sold in bottles, such as ketchup, mustard, and other condiments. Beverages, such as soft drinks and beers, can also be stored in plastic and glass bottles. Bottle packaging equipment can allow you to fill and seal bottles in addition to attaching labels to each one. Bottles can be sealed with crimped caps, screw-top caps, and snap-on caps, among other options.

3. Package fragile items.

Food manufacturers must sometimes package delicate items, such as chicken eggs, thin wafers, and other foods that are prone to breakage. Fortunately, there are many food packaging machines designed with these considerations in mind. Delicate items can be machine-packed into containers suitably designed for their protection. Plastic and cardboard egg cartons, boxes, and sleeves are often used to keep foods from breaking in transit. The ability to use a packaging machine for this process can reduce the likelihood of food waste due to human error.

4. Collate packed food items.

Once items are packaged, they must be prepared for transportation. Many food manufacturers transport their goods by pallet to save money on shipping costs. Sorting each product by hand and putting it in the appropriate location can be time-consuming. Fortunately, food packaging equipment can also sort and collate boxes, bags, and bottles of food. Food that is packaged and upstacked by machine may be easier to transport since it is uniform in weight and dimensions. Relying on specialized equipment to pack your pallets or boxes can ensure that each shipment contains the correct number of items.

To learn more, visit a website such as dominionautomation.com.