Tomato Paste

Tomato paste is dense, acidic and abrasive, with pulp that can bridge in hoppers. It holds its shape instead of flowing under its own weight, clings to walls and can form a stable arch above the outlet, so a hopper left to itself will starve the dosing system within minutes. Fibrous pulp and seed fragments make the product mildly abrasive on pump surfaces and nozzle seats over long runs, and the low pH attacks contact parts that were never chosen for acid service. At cut-off the paste strings and tails, and a tail that lands on the film becomes a smear across the seal zone — the usual cause of weak seals and leaking packs on a tomato paste packaging machine. Dosing is by positive displacement. Wide product paths, agitation and acid-proof contact parts keep the paste moving, while shut-off nozzles prevent smears across the seal zone. A piston draws a measured volume from an agitated hopper and pushes it through a short, wide path to the nozzle; because the paste keeps its volume rather than draining away, the dose is set by stroke length and stays repeatable from lane to lane. Agitator and hopper scrapers break the arch before it forms and keep product presented at the pump inlet. Nozzles are sized generously for pulp, and the shut-off closes at the end of the stroke so the product column is cut cleanly instead of dripping. On a tomato paste filling machine, seals, gaskets and every product-contact surface are specified for acidity and made quick-release, because paste dries hard and stains what it touches. Two formats carry most of the volume. Stick pack is the single-portion format for kitchens and food service: single-portion sachets replace opened cans that spoil — the practical argument behind the format — and the stick travels well in catering trays, delivery bags and quick-service kitchens. Sachet, with three-side or four-side seal, takes the slightly larger portion, tears cleanly across the top and suits retail multipacks, hotels and canteens. Typical dosing runs 10 to 30 ml per pack. Output is a multi-lane figure, not a cycle figure: lane count follows pack width, so a narrow stick and a wide sachet on the same frame give very different results. An MSM1200 reaches up to 960 packs per minute with 12 lanes on a narrow pack, and 480 packs per minute on a wider pack running 6 lanes. Working models, with their lane ranges: ARTISTICK 1-5, HSM 1-3, ISM400 2-5, ISM600 3-7, MSM800 4-10, MSM1200 6-12, SPM320 1-8, SPM800 4-12, SPM1200 7-12. Choice follows portion size, pack width and the output the line has to hold. Buyers are tomato paste and sauce producers, condiment plants, food service and catering suppliers, and private-label co-packers supplying hotels, restaurants and airline kitchens — usually looking for a tomato paste stick pack machine or a tomato paste sachet packaging machine sized to their portion and their run length.