Food automation
Food automation: efficient handling for the food industry
Piab’s vacuum technology products deliver hygienic, compliant and efficient automation for diverse food industry applications. The specialized suction cups ensure reliable gripping, minimal leakage, easy to clean and product safety, meeting FDA and EU standards. Products are offered with detection and optimized food handling processes throughout the value chain. Piab offer endless possibilities for gripping, lifting and moving needs. You can handle food directly, open bags, pack items into cartons or palletize.
Easy to clean
The cups are designed to be easy to clean without pockets where dirt or dust can stick
Detectable material
A small amount of iron power makes the suction cup detectable which is suitable for direct food handling
Extensive range
An extensive product range allows you to pick any kind of food. From bread and pralines to eggs and fruit.
Detectable food cups for hygienic automated food handling
Ensure that you are on the safe side! Piab supports you with specific detectable suction cups in numerous shapes and its soft grippers for different food objects from bread, fruits and pralines to frozen, raw or prepared foods. Pick up a wide variety of foods safely and hygienically. All of Piab’s detectable suction cups are made of FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 and EU 1935/2004 approved silicone to which a low percentage of a metal additive (Fe) is mixed. They can be equipped with fittings of either food grade detectable plastic material or acid resistant stainless steel, both with large vacuum flow orifice. These suction cup types have a special design to give a good grip on irregular food surfaces and require only low vacuum levels to actuate the bellows. Additionally, they are hygienically designed without any dust pockets.
Food handling automation for baked goods
Getting bread rolls, cakes and pasta crumble free to the table. To support bakeries in the daily challenge of mass producing their products, Piab has developed its B-BL suction cups. They allow picking hot bakery items coming out of the oven and placing them on de-panner belts. To further support this application, Piab’s offer is complemented by retainers and tools that enable swift replacement of the suction cups mounted on de-panner belts to reduce downtime. In gripping devices for food, Piab specifically looked at how to avoid breakage. This led to a range of different suction cups, able to handle everything from bread to muffins, brittle lasagna sheets and very thin crackers.
Confectionery & candy handling
Whether it is pralines, waffle cones or hollow chocolate eggs, here is your answer. piSOFTGRIP is as adaptable in its force as a hand and yet as simple as a suction cup. The piSOFTGRIP® family, with its vacuum cavities and soft fingers, allows perfect pick-up of fragile objects such as chocolate and waffle products. Piab’s suction cups for confectionery ensure quick and efficient placing of each praline into the box.
Automated fruit & vegetable handling
A gentle grip on any fruit from avocado to zucchini. In fruit picking, flexibility is key. You need a suction cup able to handle items with difficult, leaky textures and various shapes. Piab’s fruit cup is all this: Flexible bellows for off-axis grips and adaptation as well as multi-lip design to ensure great sealing. This allows using a smaller vacuum pump which saves energy. Secure grip on irregular surfaces with indents and protrusions thanks to the innovative multi-lip design. Keeps fruits pristine due to the gentle but firm grip achieved even with low vacuum levels. Able to adapt during moment of pick to achieve grip on fruit with varying shapes
Frozen food handling automation
When it comes to handling frozen food, you need a solution that is regulation compliant, hygienic and detectable and resistant to cold temperatures to maintain machine uptimes with as long as possible replacement cycles. Piab’s silicone suction cups offer the ideal combination of all these characteristics, allowing you to handle anything from frozen burger patties to fish filet. If you need to package frozen bulk foods such as peas or ready meals our suction cups offer the ideal solution to hold open thin foil bags in automatic bag filling stations. Their secure but gentle grip leaves bags and products flawless. Check out the non-detectable suction cup section for further information.
Ask us anything.
Receive free consultation and advice from our automation specialists on how to reinforce your process.
Non-detectable food cups for food handling automation
The automation of the food & beverage industry drives the need for compliant gripping. Piab’s portfolio offers FDA and EU-approved suction cups for hygienic, automated handling of diverse packaged and unpackaged foods, including eggs and items in biodegradable or foil packaging.
Automated bag handling & opening solutions
Piab’s suction cups excel at opening and holding bags during automated filling without causing marks or damage. Their specialized design prevents sensitive bags from being sucked in, ensuring they remain intact. This adaptability makes Piab’s bag handling solutions ideal for various packaging processes.
Pouch and foil packaging for food automation
Piab’s high-quality suction cups, including the BGX cup, BL suction cups, and the modular piGRIP® BGI-2, ensure a stable hold for fast robot applications with flimsy foils, liquid-filled, or temperature-sensitive bags. These solutions increase pick rates and process efficiency, saving energy by operating at low vacuum levels. They also prevent marks on packaging, guaranteeing optimal performance and protection across diverse automated food handling applications.
Egg handling with robotics in food industry
Piab’s stable egg suction cup enables safe, reliable grip for eggs, overcoming automation speed limitations. Its two step actuation ensures predictable picking and releasing, while stable bellows allow high accelerations. Operating at low vacuum saves energy, reduces egg white leakage, and minimizes cleaning needs, lowering machine downtime. The egg-cup is easy to clean and resistant to detergents and ultrasonic cleaning, ensuring long-term, efficient, and hygienic egg handling in automated processes.
Dairy product handling
Keep your process running with clog free vacuum technology. From starch bagging to cheese block handling, clogging must be prevented. Therefore our suction cups are designed without any dust pockets and can be equipped with filters.
Vacuum pumps and ejectors: boost robotics in food industry
Complementing the suction cup portfolio, Piab offers a range of additional gripping tools that support the food industry. From special cobot grippers, to complete EOAT, to high performance vacuum pumps. Check out how Piab can further support your quest for getting the maximum out of your robotic system.
FAQ - robotics in food industry & food handling automation
Which suction cup materials are suitable for food handling?
FDA and EU approved silicone is a suitable material for food handling. Silicone is also available in detectable (metal-detectable) variants for enhanced safety in food processing environments. The wide temperature range which silicone can be used in makes it possible to use in both applications for handling frozen food and baking goods.
When should I use a suction cup in detectable material?
Use detectable suction cups whenever you need to ensure that any potential fragments can be reliably detected and removed from the food supply, especially in automated, high-throughput, or regulated food production environments. This helps prevent contamination, protects consumers, and supports compliance with food safety standards
When should I use a suction cup in non-detectable material?
Use non-detectable suction cups when food safety can be assured without the need for metal or visual detectability, and when regulations, customer requirements, and risk assessments do not demand detectable materials. Always ensure the material is still food-safe and compliant with relevant standards if it will contact food directly
Not sure what you need?
Our specialists are ready to assist you.