Overcoming Hot-fill Challenges

A North American fruit sauce producer faced major production setbacks due to splashing and sealing issues during hot filling. A tailored solution transformed the process, boosted output and restored product integrity. Image courtesy of Waldner North America.

How a fruit sauce producer boosted efficiency and product quality.

By Matt Gwin, Product Manager at Waldner North America

Fruit sauces are a hit — especially with kids. From apple and mango to banana and pineapple, these convenient, single-serve snacks are a staple on grocery shelves and in school backpacks. While their ingredient lists may appear simple, the process of packaging fruit sauces requires careful precision. Accurate filling and sealing are critical to ensuring product integrity, food safety and shelf stability — making advanced, reliable packaging solutions essential to success.

A leading fruit sauce manufacturer in North America recently faced significant challenges in their packaging line, particularly when filling and sealing its product into cups. Frequent splashing compromised the whole packaging process, slowed production and ultimately constrained revenue growth.

Production Challenges

It was clear they were relying on an outdated machine that could no longer meet the scale and complexity of their operations. Poor nozzle control was a key issue, causing sugary sauce to drip and splash, contaminating lids and carrier plates and interfering with the seal. In some cases, fruit fibers would land on the seal area, leading to faulty seals that eventually developed small leaks, leading to spoilage and putting the product safety at risk.

Compounding the issue was the high temperature of the product during hot filling, which made the juice more fluid and prone to splashing and overflowing. The resulting steam also created challenges for achieving a reliable seal, especially critical for a sensitive product like fruit sauce. Heat buildup increased pressure within the cups, raising the risk of burst seals if filling wasn’t precisely controlled.

A bottom-up filling approach, where cups are elevated to meet the nozzle, significantly reduces splashing and ensures consistent sealing. Image courtesy of Waldner North America.

Customized Solutions

To address these challenges, a collaborative effort between our engineering teams led to the development of a customized solution, tailored to the specific characteristics of the fruit sauce. Through extensive testing, the teams fine-tuned the machinery to deliver clean, accurate fills. One key adaptation was the implementation of a bottom-up filling approach, where cups are elevated to meet the nozzle, significantly reducing splashing and ensuring consistent sealing.

The new solution addressed both the temperature and sealing issues. It also features a sophisticated lane-by-lane data-coding system to identify and trace anomalies like splashes or bad seals, helping streamline troubleshooting and minimize waste.

The new, compact 5-lane filling machine boosted production efficiency, with the system now producing 150-200 cups per minute (9,000-12,000 cups per hour) from a space-saving 1.5 m x 1.9 m (2.85 m2) footprint, all while reducing downtime and improving product quality.

This case underscores the importance of integrating advanced engineering solutions to overcome specific production challenges—while also highlighting the value of strong manufacturer support to prevent issues and avoid production slowdowns altogether.

About the Author

Matt Gwin is a Product Manager at Waldner North America, a manufacturer specializing in custom filling and sealing machinery for the food packaging industry.  Visit: http://www.wnapt.com/