Pesto Filling Machine
A fully automatic pesto filling machine that doses, seals and caps basil pesto into 4-16oz cups at up to 30 cups per minute with servo-driven 0.5% fill-weight accuracy.
The Hummus Pack SDH-R is a servo-driven pesto filling machine built for oil-separating, particulate-heavy sauces. A large-bore volumetric piston passes basil leaf, pine nut and hard-cheese solids without shearing them, holding fill weights to plus or minus 0.5% anywhere from 50g to 500g. A pneumatic denester feeds 4oz to 16oz cups, and roll-film membrane sealing lays down a tamper-evident lid even on an oily flange. Designed and built in Calgary, Alberta by Alter Pack and certified to CE, FDA and UL standards - full specifications are on the SDH-R cup filling and sealing machine page.
Why the SDH-R Excels at Pesto
Honest Shot Weights on Separating Pesto
Pesto splits into oil and solids the moment it stands still. Feed the piston a homogeneous, recirculated product and the SDH-R holds plus or minus 0.5% fill weight from 50g to 500g, run after run.
Large-Bore Valving for Leaf & Pine Nut
Basil leaf, pine nut fragments and grated Parmesan pass through oversized valving instead of being sheared or bridged, so the pack on shelf still looks like the pesto that left your batch tank.
Clean Flange, Tamper-Evident Seal
Oil on the sealing flange is the number one cause of pesto seal failures. Positive cut-off plus independently controlled seal temperature, pressure and dwell give a repeatable tamper-evident membrane, run after run.
MAP Nitrogen Protects Basil Colour
Optional nitrogen flush displaces headspace oxygen before sealing, slowing the browning that turns bright green pesto olive-drab and extending refrigerated shelf life from roughly 7-10 days to 30-45 days or more.
Why an Automatic Pesto Filling Machine Beats Hand-Packing
Hand-packing pesto is slow, messy and almost impossible to hold to a declared net weight. The sauce separates in the tub between scoops, oil films the cup rim before the lid ever lands, and filled cups drift several grams either side of target. The SDH-R automatic pesto filling machine replaces that bench with a single rotary index: denest the cup, dose the product, heat-seal a tamper-evident membrane, apply the lid and discharge a finished retail pack.
Cycle rate is up to 30 cups per minute on a dry cycle. In production, most pesto packers settle at a sustained 18 to 25 cups per minute once viscosity, cup size and lid handling are dialled in - a realistic number we would rather quote up front than a headline figure you never see on your own floor. Every shot is metered by a servo-driven volumetric piston rather than a timed pump or a gravity valve, so fill weight holds to plus or minus 0.5% anywhere between 50g and 500g. On a 227g retail cup that repeatability is money: it lets you target close to declared weight instead of building giveaway into every unit to cover a loose filler.
Three filler stations, one pass
- Base fill - classic basil, vegan or sun-dried tomato pesto dosed through large-bore valving.
- Drizzle - a finishing layer of olive oil across the surface to slow oxidation and lift shelf appeal.
- Garnish - toasted pine nuts, shaved hard cheese or a contrasting swirl of pesto rosso.
Because all three stations index together, a layered premium SKU costs no more labour than a plain one. The machine sits on a food-grade 304 stainless frame in a 44 x 52 in footprint, small enough for a commissary, a deli production room or a co-packing bay, and it is designed and built in Calgary, Alberta by Alter Pack with CE, FDA and UL certification. It is the same platform behind our wider dip filling and sealing machine range.
Oil Separation, Particulates & Fill-Weight Accuracy in Pesto Packaging
Pesto misbehaves in two specific ways that wreck fill accuracy. First it separates: leave a hopper standing for a few minutes and oil rises while the herb, nut and cheese solids settle. A volumetric piston meters displaced volume, not mass, so if the phase ratio at the valve keeps changing, your shot weight changes with it - light cups early in the run, heavy oily cups later. Second, pesto is loaded with particulates that a small nozzle will shear, smear or bridge.
Keep the feed homogeneous
The cure is upstream of the piston. Pesto should be recirculated or gently agitated so the product arriving at the valve is the same product your QA team signed off in the batch tank. Our Calgary engineering team specifies the hopper and feed arrangement around your recipe, your batch temperature and your run length, then proves the fill profile during factory acceptance testing before the pesto packaging machine ever ships.
Pass the solids without shearing them
Valving on the SDH-R is deliberately large-bore, sized to pass whole basil leaf, pine nut fragments and grated Parmesan intact. That matters for appearance as much as for flow: sheared basil bruises and darkens, and a pulverised nut fraction reads as a duller, greyer pack on shelf. The same volumetric platform runs our hummus filling machine, where chickpea texture and tahini viscosity make the identical demand.
- Fill temperature and viscosity - pesto thins as it warms, so the fill window is specified against your real batch temperature.
- Largest particulate - nut size and leaf cut determine nozzle bore and piston geometry.
- Target weight and cup - 50g to 500g across 4oz, 8oz, 10oz and 16oz cups as standard.
- Recipe storage - the PLC and HMI hold a saved recipe per SKU, so a proven pesto profile is recalled rather than re-tuned, with changeover in under about 15 minutes.
Sealing, MAP Nitrogen & Shelf Life for Basil Pesto
Oil on the sealing flange is the single biggest cause of failed seals in pesto packing. A film of olive oil between the film and the rim stops the heat seal wetting out, and the result is a leaker that passes visual inspection and fails in the cold chain. The automatic pesto filling machine attacks the problem at the fill, not at the sealer: a controlled fill profile with positive cut-off drops product into the cup without splashing the flange, and servo retraction stops the tail of the shot from stringing across the rim.
Seal control you can actually tune
Sealing is roll-film membrane heat seal, producing a tamper-evident lidding film that has to be peeled or punctured to open. Seal temperature, pressure and dwell are each controlled independently, which is what lets you find a window that closes reliably on a lightly oiled rim without scorching the film or distorting a thin-wall PP cup. Pre-cut lids are available as an option where your artwork or barrier spec calls for them, and a snap-on lid can be applied over the membrane for reclose on foodservice and club-pack formats.
Nitrogen flush and basil colour
Basil pesto does not usually fail on microbiology first - it fails on appearance. Oxygen in the headspace drives the browning that turns a bright green cup olive-drab well before the product is unsafe. Optional MAP nitrogen flush displaces that headspace oxygen immediately before the membrane is sealed.
- Refrigerated shelf life typically moves from around 7-10 days to 30-45 days or more.
- Longer dating opens distribution beyond local delivery, into regional retail and club channels.
- Colour and aroma hold closer to day-one condition through the back half of the code life.
- MAP supports, but never replaces, your cold chain, acidification and sanitation programme.
Every contact part is food-grade 304 stainless, and the whole assembly is CE, FDA and UL certified.
Cup Formats, Allergen Changeover, Price & Lead Time
Pesto rarely ships in one format. A single producer may run a 4oz sampler, an 8oz retail cup, a 16oz club pack and a foodservice tub, and the pesto cup filling machine is built for that reality. Cups of 4oz, 8oz, 10oz and 16oz are standard, with custom tooling from 2oz to 32oz, in round, square or rectangular formats. A pneumatic cup denester feeds them reliably, including thin-wall PP that a friction denester tends to double-pick.
Changeover and allergen control
Pesto is an allergen-heavy category: pine nuts, cashews and walnuts bring tree nut declarations, and Parmesan or Pecorino bring dairy. Cross-contact between a traditional pesto and a vegan nut-free SKU is a recall risk, not a housekeeping detail. The SDH-R is designed for CIP clean-in-place, with tool-free strip-down of product-contact parts so operators can break the filler down, wet clean it and reassemble without a fitter or a toolbox. Recipes stored in the PLC and HMI mean a changeover typically runs under about 15 minutes once the machine is clean and dry - fast enough to schedule allergen-free SKUs first and validated cleans between families.
Investment, lead time and support
- From $45,000 USD, with final price set by filler-station count, cup range, MAP nitrogen and lidding options.
- Delivery in 8-12 weeks from order, including factory acceptance testing on your own pesto.
- 12-month warranty, backed by service centres in Alberta, New Jersey and California.
- Footprint 44 x 52 in, so floor space is rarely the blocker on a first automation step.
See how the platform is applied to this category on our pesto filling application page, then talk to our Calgary engineers about your basil pesto filling equipment and send a sample through for fill and seal trials.
Certified, Food-Grade Engineering Behind Every Pesto Filling Machine
CE, FDA & UL Certified
Every SDH-R ships with CE (European conformity), FDA (US food-contact) and UL (electrical safety) documentation - the paperwork your auditor, insurer and electrical authority ask to see.
Food-Grade 304 Stainless Steel
All product-contact surfaces are food-grade 304 stainless with CIP clean-in-place and tool-free strip-down, built for HACCP and BRCGS-audited facilities.
Servo-Driven Precision
A closed-loop servo volumetric piston holds +/-0.5% fill-weight accuracy across the full 50-500 g range, protecting net-content compliance and cutting product give-away.
Made in Calgary by Alter Pack
Designed and built in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by Alter Pack, with a 12-month warranty and North American service centres in Alberta, New Jersey and California.
SDH-R Pesto Filling Machine - Full Specifications
Complete specification for the SDH-R automatic rotary cup filling, sealing and cupping machine.
| Specification | SDH-R |
|---|---|
| Throughput | Up to 30 cups per minute (dry cycle) |
| Real-world output | 18-25 cups/min depending on product, cup size & options |
| Fill range | 50 g - 500 g (2 oz - 17 oz) |
| Fill-weight accuracy | +/-0.5% (servo-driven volumetric piston) |
| Standard cup sizes | 4 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz, 16 oz |
| Custom cup sizes | 2 oz - 32 oz with matching tooling |
| Cup shapes | Round, square, rectangular |
| Sealing | Roll-film membrane heat seal (tamper-evident) |
| Lidding options | Pre-cut lid | snap-on lid (pick-and-place) |
| Shelf-life option | MAP nitrogen flush - 7-10 days to 30-45+ days refrigerated |
| Filler stations | Up to 3 (base + drizzle + garnish in one pass) |
| Construction | Food-grade 304 stainless steel |
| Cleaning | CIP clean-in-place + tool-free strip-down |
| Controls | PLC + HMI with recipe storage & diagnostics |
| Changeover | Under ~15 minutes between SKUs |
| Certifications | CE, FDA, UL |
| Footprint | 44 x 52 in (1,100.5 x 1,315.5 mm) |
| Height | 65.6 in |
| Origin | Made in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by Alter Pack |
| Warranty | 12 months |
| Delivery | 8-12 weeks from order confirmation |
| Starting price | From $45,000 USD |
The SDH-R Pesto Filling Machine
Products It Fills
Available In These Markets
How the SDH-R Fills & Seals Pesto
Fully automatic from empty cup to sealed, retail-ready product - no manual labour
Cup Denesting
Empty cups are automatically separated from a nested stack and placed into the rotary table carriers. The pneumatic denester handles round, square, and rectangular cups from 2oz to 32oz.
Servo-Driven Filling
The volumetric piston filler draws a precise dose and dispenses it into the cup. Servo control adjusts stroke length and speed per recipe, maintaining plus/minus 0.5% fill-weight accuracy. The PLC stores recipes for quick changeovers.
Membrane Heat Sealing
Roll-stock film is drawn across the filled cup and heat-sealed to create a tamper-evident, airtight membrane. Sealing temperature, pressure, and dwell time are individually controlled to match your film and cup materials.
Snap-On Lid (Optional)
A pick-and-place mechanism applies a consumer-friendly snap-on lid over the membrane seal - a two-barrier system providing tamper evidence and reclosability for grocery retail and foodservice.
MAP Nitrogen Flush (Optional)
Modified Atmosphere Packaging replaces headspace oxygen with food-grade nitrogen immediately before sealing, typically extending refrigerated shelf life from 7-10 days to 30-45+ days.
Pesto Filling Machine - Frequently Asked Questions
The SDH-R starts from $45,000 USD. Final price depends on how many filler stations you need, your cup range, and whether you add MAP nitrogen flush, pre-cut lidding or snap-on lid application. Quotes include factory acceptance testing on your own pesto, commissioning support and a 12-month warranty.
Up to 30 cups per minute on a dry cycle. With real pesto, most producers run a sustained 18 to 25 cups per minute depending on viscosity, particulate size, cup format and fill weight. Thicker, nut-heavy recipes and larger 16oz cups sit at the lower end of that band.
Yes. The filler uses large-bore valving and a servo-driven volumetric piston sized around your largest particulate, so leaf, nut fragments and grated cheese move through intact rather than being sheared. We confirm the nozzle and piston geometry against a sample of your actual recipe before build.
Refrigerated pesto typically moves from roughly 7-10 days to 30-45 days or more with nitrogen flush, because displacing headspace oxygen slows the oxidation that darkens basil. Actual dating depends on your formulation, acidity, sanitation and cold chain, and must be confirmed by your own shelf-life testing.
The SDH-R is food-grade 304 stainless with CIP clean-in-place and tool-free strip-down, so product-contact parts come apart for a full wet clean without tools. That supports validated tree-nut and dairy changeovers; with recipes saved in the PLC, restart and changeover typically takes under about 15 minutes.
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