WILPAC Honey & Syrup Packaging Lines: Viscous Product Filling with Drip-Free Dosing and Leak-Tight Capping

Honey and syrup are among the most difficult products to package at speed: high viscosity, temperature-sensitive crystal formation, and a persistent tendency to string and drip at the filler nozzle. WILPAC has developed a dedicated viscous-product packaging line that treats these characteristics as design requirements rather than nuisances, covering filling, capping, labelling and case packing in a single integrated flow.

The core of the line is a servo-driven piston filler with jacketed, temperature-controlled hoppers. Product is held between 35 and 45 degrees Celsius so that viscosity stays within a stable filling window, while gentle low-shear agitation prevents crystallisation without whipping air into the product. Volumetric accuracy is held to plus or minus 0.5 percent across fill sizes from 200 grams to 5 kilograms, and the recipe system stores fill weights, flow rates and drip delays per SKU so that changeover is a matter of calling up a number rather than mechanical adjustment.

Drip and string control is handled by a three-stage nozzle design combining a mechanical cut-off valve, a suction retraction stroke, and a short post-fill dwell before the container is indexed away. This keeps threads of honey from bridging the nozzle to the jar rim, which in turn keeps the sealing surface clean enough for a reliable seal and prevents sticky residue from contaminating the capping head and conveyor. Where glass jars are used, the capping station applies a controlled torque profile so that lug and twist-off caps close consistently without cracking the finish.

Downstream, the line accommodates induction sealing for tamper evidence, wrap-around or self-adhesive labelling with high-accuracy placement on tapered containers, and robotic case packing that erects, loads and seals cartons in the same rhythm as the filler. All product-contact parts are stainless steel 304 or 316L, cleanable by CIP where required, and the line supports 200 gram retail jars, 500 gram and 1 kilogram tubs, squeeze bottles, and 25 kilogram catering pails. For exporters, the system is designed to meet food-grade hygienic standards in the EU and North America, and to deliver the consistent net content declaration that regulators and retailers both require.