Buying Food Handling Equipment

Increase your food processing plant's productivity with efficient food handling equipment

By Lorraine Savage, freelance writer and editor, Athena's Scribe

Food and beverage handling equipment and supplies move food through a processing plant and deliver it to various departments, such as coating and seasoning, inspection and quality control, and finally packaging.

Whether it’s a patty machine, blender, wire basket, or conveyor, food handling equipment carries hundreds of pounds of food per hour through the factory. When you buy food handling equipment, you need the most efficient conveyor system for your production floor foot print. Follow the same recommendations when you buy beverage handling equipment and supplies, such as liquid chillers, filtration and distilling equipment, and pumps.

Most food handling equipment is stainless steel, which is important to ensure sanitation and cleanliness. Some equipment and parts are made of plastics specially formulated for food handling. One way to provide safety and efficiency is to buy equipment specifically designed for your product and processing needs. A wide variety of food handling equipment manufacturers, distributors, and service companies even offer design services.

When buying food handling equipment:

Determine the route and destination of the food being handled.
Determine your targeted output speed, such as pounds per hour or feet per minute.
Buy used food and beverage handling equipment to save money.
Customize food handling equipment to increase efficiency and connectivity.

Determine where the food will travel before purchasing food handling systems

Buy food handling equipment in accordance with its route through your plant. For example, does the food need to be breaded and seasoned? If yes, then it needs a longer conveyor to travel to that section of the plant. And, when it is ready for packaging, it needs to travel to the packaging department. Consider your plant layout. Will the food need to be delivered to another platform? Always determine the mileage to be traveled first, and then buy the appropriate length of conveyor required. When you buy beverage handing equipment, the same is true for bottles and cans if they need to travel to a labeling or capping station.
Try: Dairy Conveyor Corp., which manufactures conveyors for the dairy industry, and Corio Equipment Manufacturing, which makes food handling equipment for the bakery industry.

Determine output speed and volume of vood when selecting food handling equipment

Calculate what you are moving, how much of it you're moving, and where it is going. Plants handle food either in feet per minute or pounds per hour. Buy food handling equipment based on this transfer rate. Large manufacturing plants handle a production volume of thousands of pounds per hour. Also consider equipment materials. For example, embossed stainless steel conveyors prevent sticky foods, such as raw meat or vegetables, from clinging to the conveyor and therefore travel faster.
Try: Food handling equipment manufacturers such as Heat and Control, which offer vibratory and horizontal motion conveyors, and Boston Gear, which provides gears and clutches for food handling equipment.

Buy used equipment from food and beverage handling equipment suppliers

Whether you are upgrading your plant or opening a new plant, buying used food and beverage handling equipment saves money and time. You can find used equipment from food handling equipment distributors or from plants that have recently closed and are selling inventory. Food handling equipment suppliers carry a wide range of brand name used equipment and usually provide search services to find what you need because their stock is ever changing.
Try: Food Handling Equipment and Machinery and Equipment Company each provide a network of sources for used food and beverage handling equipment.

Customize your food handling equipment

Food handling equipment manufacturers specialize in designing equipment for your needs. Customized equipment can offer increased efficiency, energy efficiency, ease of operation, and connectivity and the ability to network with other systems in your plant.
Try: Right Stuff offers computer modeling of food handling equipment and services tailored to your project. Professional Plastics offers FDA approved plastic parts for food handling.

Vibratory conveyors bounce food around, so they are particularly not good for fragile foods, such as chips. Instead, choose a horizontal motion conveyor, which will operate more gently.
Choose food handling equipment appropriate for the entire route the food travels, from preparation, processing, cooking, seasoning, inspection, and packaging.
To ensure food safety, sanitary products, such as raw poultry and seafood, need to be contained in separate conveyor pans that are rounded and can be easily cleaned.