Choose the starting ingredient before the equipment
A ketchup machinery enquiry needs to state whether the factory will receive fresh tomatoes, prepared pulp or concentrated paste. All three can be starting materials, but they create different receiving and preparation duties. Buying a fresh-tomato line when production will use purchased paste can add equipment that the factory rarely operates. Starting with fresh tomatoes without planning washing, sorting and separation leaves an incomplete process.
Prepare a brief showing the intended recipe, ingredient format, finished daily output and pack sizes. Use the tomato ketchup plant page to discuss the full equipment scope, rather than treating a cooking vessel as a complete plant.
Compare the two preparation routes
For fresh tomatoes, discuss receiving, washing, inspection, size reduction and pulping before recipe preparation. Incoming ripeness and rejected fruit affect usable output. A fruit and vegetable washer and tomato pulper address different stages; their capacities must use a clearly stated input basis.
For purchased paste, discuss container handling, ingredient weighing, dilution and mixing instead. Ask how operators will empty the actual drums, bags or smaller packs you plan to receive. If both routes are required, identify shared equipment and the preparation equipment needed only during fresh-tomato production.
Distinguish ketchup cooking from paste concentration
A ketchup recipe and a concentrated tomato paste specification are different production briefs. Ask which duties the proposed vessel performs and how finished texture, heating and discharge will be assessed. If your project also includes making concentrated paste, review the separate tomato puree and paste plant scope. Do not assume that the ketchup quotation includes evaporation equipment.
Request an equipment list for each intended product. Record which recipe changes require a different screen, agitator arrangement, transfer pump or cleaning procedure, and which require separate equipment.
Convert batch size into a production schedule
As an illustrative planning example, a 200 kg working batch completed every two hours gives 100 kg per hour before product losses and unplanned stops. The two hours must include ingredient addition, cooking, discharge and the agreed cleaning allowance. This example is not a machine rating or a guaranteed cycle time.
At that illustrative output, packing into 500 g containers requires 200 accepted fills per hour. The filling section also needs time for container supply, closing and product changeovers. Use the capacity sizing guide to put each stage on the same basis.
Write a trial and quotation checklist
- Starting material and recipe supplied for the trial.
- Working batch mass and complete timed cycle.
- Finished consistency and agreed method of assessment.
- Transfer and filling performance in the actual pack size.
- Equipment, pipework, utility and installation inclusions.
- Cleaning access and the steps required between recipes.
Agree product process requirements with your food technologist; a machinery trial is not evidence of shelf life. The quotation should state who is responsible for process validation and which measurements are part of equipment acceptance.
Prepare the project enquiry
Send AREIUM the chosen ingredient route, production target, recipe family, container size and available site utilities. Attach a simple layout if the line will enter an existing building. Ask for separate costs for optional concentration or additional packaging formats so that competing proposals can be compared fairly.
Use the plant quotation checklist before requesting a configured ketchup line quotation. For background on the distinction between preparation and concentration equipment, see the FAO processing equipment diagrams; these are process references, not AREIUM specifications.
