Since 1932, Mepaco has been a renowned name in the meat processing industry. In the pet food sector, Mepaco has collaborated with some of the fastest-growing brands both nationally and internationally, providing equipment and systems for producing wet foods, canned food, kibble, and treats.
PET FOOD PROCESSING EXPERTISE
Thermal Processing
Mepaco’s Mixer-Cooker is a popular choice among pet food processors for its ability to ensure homogeneous batch consistency and large-scale cooking. Featuring a heat jacket, the Mixer-Cooker uses circulating hot water to transfer heat to the product. This equipment is ideal for batch cooking and mixing fresh or frozen proteins, grains, vegetables, and liquids, offering controlled steam to achieve uniform texture and consistency.
For applications requiring scraping to prevent burn-on, the ThermaBlend is recommended. It features a “wrap-around” jacket and is designed for processes involving drastic temperature changes, such as cooking and cooling in the same unit.
Formulation
Mepaco excels in Bin Formulation Systems, which are equipped with surge loading metering screw conveyors that use real-time loss-in-weight signaling to downstream equipment. Pre-broken frozen food products (meat, fish, chicken, vegetables) are delivered to a designated metering screw conveyor via a traversing belt, which precisely locates the drop position. Once the recipe is established, the metering screw conveyors deliver the product on demand.
These systems reduce labor and material handling of frozen products, minimize downtime with continuous large batch production, and utilize real-time material availability for on-demand formulation.
Automation
Automation is a key driver for many pet food manufacturers investing in Mepaco equipment. Our technicians identify product transfers as opportunities to enhance efficiency and reduce manual tasks. Depending on the application, screw conveyors or belt conveyors can be designed to provide the necessary feed rate for downstream processes.
Pump Feeders offer first-in, first-out metering between processes and allow for immediate recharging of batches upon completion. When paired with a dumper at the start of the processing line, the Pump Feeder can handle large loads and systematically meter product to downstream equipment.
Many emerging pet food processors consider Mepaco’s screw conveyors and dumpers essential for automating product transfers, reducing manual labor, and creating efficiencies in system automation.
Mepaco also has developed a solution for breaking frozen blocks of protein, the PB3000. The Pallet Breaker is a robust machine to automate the frozen pallet-breaking process, with a throughput of 30,000 lbs. per hour. Designed to meet the demands of high-volume operations.
If you have a pet food application, please contact our sales team to learn more.
