How to Compare Food Packaging Line Proposals

A packaging line for fresh fish, frozen shrimp, tomatoes or leafy greens is defined by the product, the pack formats and the output it must hold. If one supplier quoted trays, another bags and a third a mixed range, the totals cannot be compared. Restate one basis and ask every supplier to answer it.

Global B2B Group prepares that basis as a structured RFQ and asks proposals to follow the same structure, so differences in price can be traced to differences in scope rather than to differences in assumptions.

Proposals often state machine speed at the most favourable format. Ask each supplier for the sustained rate per format, the expected changeover time and the cleaning time per shift, and how the line behaves when one unit — weigher, tray sealer, labeller or case packer — stops.

A line whose bottleneck is upstream of the packer will never reach the packer's quoted speed.

Wet, cold and protein-rich products such as fish and shrimp put specific demands on materials, drainage, ingress protection and cleaning access. Fresh produce brings soil, moisture and variable sizes. Ask each supplier to state the hygiene design, the food-contact materials and the cleaning procedure they priced, and which certifications the buyer must verify independently.

Most budget surprises sit between suppliers: infeed conveyors, controls integration, labelling and coding, inspection equipment, spare parts, installation, and utilities connections. Build a single scope matrix with one row per item and one column per proposal, and mark each cell as included, excluded or unclear.

Unclear cells go back to the supplier as written clarification questions before any shortlist.

Agree the factory acceptance test (FAT) and site acceptance test (SAT) criteria before ordering, using the same products and formats the line will run. Then compare service access, spare-parts lead times, consumables such as film and trays, and energy use over the expected life — not only the purchase price.

For lines that are part of a larger project, the CAPEX approval process and financing discussion use the same comparison, so it is worth building it once and carefully.