Production-scale machines and full lines available
Recommended configuration✓ Food-grade product-contact parts
Flow wrap packaging machine, SAP-600 Top 100 three-servo
Cling wrap machine, semi-automatic or automatic
L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel
Single item, or tray and punnet
Cucumbers, peppers, herbs, tray-packed vegetables
Flow wrap film, clear or printed and perforated where the produce needs to breathe; stretch cling film; shrink film
Packs 180–450 mm long and 100–270 mm wide, produce up to 100 mm high
Flow wrap rated 20–60 packs/min; cling wrap 15–25 packs/min; set by produce size and film
About our modelModel codes shown are machines we have supplied and configured for previous projects. Your machine is specified and configured to suit your product, output and pack format — not supplied off the shelf.
These are the fresh produce lines a flow wrap machine wraps, with the pack each one usually goes into. One machine handles single items and trays: what changes between them is the infeed and the film width, not the machine, and a trial on your own produce confirms the setup.
Flow wrapping suits produce because the pack forms around the product rather than the product being dropped into a pre-made bag. Nothing is tipped, poured or shaken, which is what protects a soft-skinned item.
A cling wrap machine stretches cling film over a tray of produce, or over a whole item such as a cabbage or pumpkin, and wraps it closed, doing by machine what is otherwise done by hand with a roll of cling film. Unlike a flow wrapper it does not seal the produce into a film tube: the film is stretched tight over the top and wrapped under the tray. We supply the models below. The figures below are from the machines we have supplied, and the figures for your line are confirmed in your quotation. Trays can also be shrink wrapped on an L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel, and punnets and tubs that need a sealed lid are closed on a tray sealing machine.
Semi-automatic stretch cling film wrapper. The operator places each product on the machine, with or without a tray, and the machine wraps it in stretch cling film and prints a label to stick on the pack. It wraps a whole head of cabbage or a pumpkin, sliced watermelon, and trays of fruit and vegetables such as green beans and mushrooms, so it suits produce packers moving off wrapping by hand. It wraps 15 to 25 packs a minute, products 80 to 270 mm long and up to 185 mm wide, from 40 g to 3 kg, on PVC stretch film 350 to 550 mm wide.
Automatic stretch cling film wrapper for trays. Trays travel in on a conveyor and are wrapped in stretch film one after another, for supermarkets, central packing facilities and produce packhouses. The machine adjusts to each tray size automatically, seals every tray, runs from a touch screen and can feed a labelling machine that drops a label on each pack. It wraps trays of mushrooms, oranges, peaches and peppers, as well as meat, cheese and bakery trays. It wraps 20 to 25 trays a minute, faster on smaller trays, with trays 120 to 350 mm long, 95 to 220 mm wide and up to 130 mm high, and packs from 50 g to 4.5 kg. Our models, with their specifications, are on the cling wrap machine page.
L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel. The L-bar sealer wraps each cucumber, tray or punnet in shrink film and seals it, then the pack passes through a heat tunnel that shrinks the film tight around the produce. The pass through the tunnel is quick, so the heat does not affect the shelf life of the produce. Shrink-wrapped cucumbers are one of the most common packs on South African store shelves. The sealer runs at up to 25 packs a minute, with output set mostly by how quickly the produce is fed to it. Specifications are on the L-bar sealer and shrink wrap machine page.
Tray sealing machine. A tray sealer heat seals a film lid onto punnets, tubs and bowls of produce, such as cut fruit, berries, salads and mixed vegetables, so the pack is closed rather than wrapped and the produce stays in place in transit. Each container shape runs on its own mould, and the rotary tray sealer we supply seals two containers at a time, at 1,000 to 1,500 an hour, from roll or sheet film. Send us your containers and produce and we will choose the lidding film on a trial. Specifications are on the tray sealing machine page.
Whole cucumbers are wrapped individually in a close, clear film that follows the shape of the cucumber, and different machines can do it. Most cucumbers on South African shelves are cling wrapped or shrink wrapped: a cling wrap machine stretches cling film around each cucumber, or an L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel seals shrink film around it and draws it tight in a heat tunnel. The tunnel pass takes only a few seconds, so the heat does not shorten the cucumber’s shelf life. A flow wrap machine seals each cucumber into a film tube instead. Which one suits you depends on the pack you want on shelf.
Whichever machine wraps it, the film holds moisture in the skin and keeps the cucumber clean through handling and transport, and because it is clear the shopper sees the produce rather than the packaging. Length and diameter vary within the same crate, so the machine is set to the range you actually pack rather than to a single size. Send us a crate of your cucumbers and we will run them through the machines, so you can see the finished pack before you choose.
A vegetable wrapping machine is the same flow wrapper set up for the product in front of it. What changes between vegetable lines is the infeed, the film width and the pack length, not the machine.
Produce is carried into the film tube on an infeed conveyor, spaced so each item or tray enters on its own; spacing decides pack length and seal position, so consistent presentation at the infeed matters more than machine speed. A photocell wraps when produce is present and stops when there is none, so a gap in hand-loaded produce does not waste film, and colour-mark tracking keeps each cut in register with printed film. There is no doser: the produce arrives already graded, weighed or tray-loaded upstream, and the machine wraps rather than fills.
Peppers are packed either as single items or loaded onto a tray and sealed as a unit. They mark easily, so film tension and handling are set gentler than on a dry-goods line. This is the produce line we have supplied and installed in South Africa.
Tomatoes, baby vegetables and mixed vegetable packs are loaded onto a tray or into a punnet upstream, and the wrapper seals the whole tray in film. A tray pack is a different job to a single item: the machine is wrapping a fixed shape rather than a variable one, which makes the seal more consistent but sets the pack length to the tray.
Herbs and leafy greens go into small retail packs. They are the most sensitive produce to pack, because they wilt quickly and bruise under almost any pressure, so the film and the perforation pattern do most of the work in holding condition.
Carrots, baby marrows and mushrooms run the same way, as singles where the product holds its shape or on trays where it does not. Firm fruit can be wrapped on the same machine. Soft or irregular fruit is assessed at trial, because the pack has to hold the product without pressing on it.
Produce wrapping machines from our range: a flow wrapper for single items and trays, an L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel wrapping trays, and the automatic and semi-automatic cling wrap machines.
Single items and trays wrapped one by one on a horizontal flow wrapper.
An L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel wrap trays in clear film.
Trays of produce, meat and cheese wrapped in stretch film, with automatic size change.
Products are placed by hand and wrapped in cling film automatically, with or without a tray.
These formats cover most produce packed in South Africa.
Whole cucumbers and courgettes are wrapped individually in a close, clear film, on a cling wrap, shrink wrap or flow wrap machine. The pack is close-fitting, so the produce is what the shopper sees rather than the packaging.
Peppers, tomatoes, mixed vegetables and herbs are loaded onto a tray or into a punnet upstream, and the flow wrapper seals the whole tray in film.
They run on the same machine. The flow wrapper we supplied for a pepper line takes packs 180 to 450 mm long and 100 to 270 mm wide, with produce up to 100 mm high, or 120 mm on a customised build. Pack sizes for your own formats are confirmed at quotation against your produce.
Trays and whole items can also be wrapped in stretch cling film on a cling wrap machine instead of a flow wrapper: the film is stretched over the produce and wrapped under the tray rather than sealed into a tube. The models are described in the trays and punnets section on this page.
The flow wrapper on our pepper line is rated at 20 to 60 packs a minute. Where a fresh produce line sits in that range depends on the size of the produce and the film it runs.
The cling wrap machines run at 20 to 25 trays a minute on the automatic model and 15 to 25 packs a minute on the semi-automatic, where the operator places each product.
Longer packs run slower than short ones, and the infeed sets the real pace: a flow wrapper can only wrap produce as fast as it is presented. The output figure for your line is confirmed on a trial with your own produce.
Film choice matters more on produce than on almost any other product, because the product is still alive when it is sealed.
Perforations let the moisture that respiring produce gives off escape from the sealed pack, so condensation does not build up on the inside while the pack still holds its shape.
The pattern depends on the produce and how long the pack has to hold condition. A cucumber and a punnet of herbs do not breathe at the same rate, so the same film will not suit both. This is settled at trial against your own produce rather than specified from a chart. We do not supply film, but we can recommend suppliers who can provide the perforation your trial settles on.
Produce is usually packed in clear film so the product sells itself, with branding, barcodes and country-of-origin printed on the film where the retailer requires it.
Most produce packers who move to a flow wrap machine are coming off hand wrapping.
Cling film is applied by hand, so the speed and the appearance of every pack depend on the operator and on how long they have been on shift. Packs vary, film is wasted on over-wrapping, and every item is handled directly. A flow wrap machine produces the same pack every time, at a consistent seal, with no hand contact with the produce.
Shrink wrapping seals film around the product and passes it through a heat tunnel to draw the film tight. The pass takes only a few seconds, so firm produce such as cucumbers, and produce on trays, take the heat without losing shelf life; most shrink-wrapped cucumbers in South African stores are packed this way, and a tomato tray line we commissioned runs on an L-bar sealer and shrink tunnel. Soft produce is checked on a trial with your own product before we recommend it.
A pre-made bag has to be opened, filled and sealed, and the bag size is fixed. A flow wrapper forms the pack around whatever is on the conveyor, so one machine covers a range of product sizes without changing bags.
We supplied and installed a three-servo flow wrap machine for a pepper packer in South Africa, and it has been running on their line for more than a year. Read the pepper flow wrap line case study.
We also commissioned a shrink wrap line for a tomato packer. The tomatoes sit on a tray and pass through the shrink tunnel in a few seconds, so the heat does not affect them. The setup was proven on a trial with the customer’s own tomatoes before they bought, and the line has been running for more than a year. Read the tomato shrink wrap case study.
We also run customer product trials on our own flow wrap machine before anyone commits to a line. Send us a crate of your produce and we will wrap it, so you can see the pack, the seal and the film behaviour on your actual product rather than on a sample of ours.
A produce line is quoted to configuration, so we need these details about your produce before we can price anything.
What you are packing, and whether it goes in as a single item or on a tray
The size range of the product, smallest to largest, since that sets the film width and the seal position
Target output per hour, and your peak-season volume
Whether you already have film, and whether it is perforated
How produce reaches the machine, from grading, weighing or manual tray loading
Site power, air supply and the floor space available. For scale, the flow wrapper on our pepper line is about 4 m long and 1 m wide.
Send a sample of your produce with the enquiry and we will trial it on the machine. Installation and operator training are included in your quote, and spares are held in Johannesburg.
Fresh produce is still alive when it is packed, and that drives every decision on the line.
Produce keeps respiring after harvest, giving off moisture and heat inside the pack. A sealed film with no ventilation traps that moisture, and condensation on the inside of the pack is the first thing a retail buyer sees. Film choice and perforation pattern matter more here than on almost any other product.
Produce is also inconsistent in a way manufactured goods are not. Cucumbers vary in length and diameter within the same crate, peppers vary in shape, and a tray of tomatoes is a different pack again. The machine has to hold a consistent seal across that variation.
And it marks easily. Pressure a biscuit would shrug off will bruise a pepper or a tomato, so handling and film tension are set gentler than on a dry-goods line.
Fresh produce is wrapped rather than filled, so it sits with the flow wrap machine rather than under a powder or granule form hub. Read how a flow wrap machine works, or see the full range in the packaging machine catalogue.
the machine itself, with models, configurations and rated outputs
meat in trays and whole birds, wrapped on the same flow and shrink wrap machines
L-bar sealers and shrink tunnels, as on the tomato tray line we commissioned
semi-automatic and automatic stretch cling film wrappers for trays and whole produce
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PackMan purchased an Automatic 6-Lane, 4-Side Seal Vinegar Packaging Machine, and it has been performing reliably since installation. The machine delivers consistent packaging quality, operates efficiently, and has met our production expectations.
SA Packaging Machinery delivered a solution that has met our expectations. The equipment has been reliable in daily production, and we’re pleased with its performance. We found the team knowledgeable, professional, and willing to assist whenever required.
We’ve been very happy with the equipment supplied by SA Packaging Machinery. It’s straightforward to use, performs consistently, and has helped us improve our production process. The team was easy to work with and made the entire experience smooth.
We have supplied packaging machines since 2017. Send us a crate of your cucumbers, peppers or trays and we will run them on our flow wrap machine, so you can see the pack and the seal on your own produce before you commit.
Yes. Single items and trays run on the same flow wrap machine. What changes between them is the infeed and the film width, not the machine, so one line can cover both provided the products are presented to the infeed consistently.
Produce keeps respiring after it is packed, so the film usually needs perforations to let moisture escape. Without them, condensation forms on the inside of the pack. The perforation pattern depends on the produce and how long it has to hold, and is confirmed against your own product at trial.
It helps, but the film does the work rather than the machine. A sealed pack limits moisture loss and keeps the produce clean in transit. With the right perforation it lets the product breathe while still holding its shape on shelf.
Yes. A flow wrapper wraps rather than fills, so the produce arrives already graded, counted or tray-loaded from upstream. How it reaches the infeed, whether from a grader, a weigher or manual tray loading, is one of the things we need to know to quote the line, because it decides how the product is presented to the machine.
Yes. A cling wrap machine stretches cling film over a tray of produce, or over a whole item such as a cabbage, and wraps it closed, so every pack comes out the same. The semi-automatic model, where the operator places each product, wraps 15 to 25 packs a minute and prints a label for each pack; the automatic model takes trays on a conveyor at 20 to 25 a minute.
