Food Processing

Food-contact fabrication is about surfaces. The grade must not react with the product, the welds must be ground and finished so nothing harbours in them, and the geometry must drain and clean without dead legs or trapped corners. We fabricate storage and process tanks, vessels and piping for food and beverage facilities across Saudi Arabia in food-suitable stainless grades, and our sheet and plate processing serves the sector's equipment builders with laser-cut components in 304 and 316L from our own stock.

Dairies, bakeries, bottling lines, edible oil plants, date processors and central kitchens all put the same three demands on metalwork: it must be cleanable, it must resist the cleaning chemicals as well as the food, and it must be documented so the plant's own hygiene audit can trace what it is made of.

What we fabricate for food and beverage plants

• Storage tanks: raw material, product, CIP and water tanks with sloped floors, sanitary outlets, manways and agitator mounts to the drawing.
• Process vessels: jacketed vessels, mixers, cookers and pressure-rated vessels where the process runs hot or under pressure.
• Process piping: product and CIP lines with orbital or hand-welded joints, purged and finished for hygiene.
• Laser-cut components: machine guards, conveyor parts, panels, brackets and enclosures cut from stainless sheet and plate for equipment builders.
• Polishing and electropolishing of fabricated items, where the specification calls for a smoother surface than the mill finish gives.

Choosing the grade: 304 or 316L

304 is the everyday food-contact grade, and for dry goods, dairy, bakery and most beverages it is the right choice. 316L earns its place where the product or the cleaning regime carries chlorides: brines, pickles, sauces, salted products, seafood and any line cleaned with hypochlorite. The article on 304 versus 316 explains the difference in plain terms, and each grade page carries the chemistry and corrosion class with their sources.

Two points decide more failures than the grade itself. First, the low-carbon variants, 304L and 316L, resist sensitisation at welds, which is why they are specified for welded tanks and piping rather than the standard grade. Second, cleaning chemicals are often harsher than the food: a plant that pits its 304 tanks is usually being attacked by its sanitiser, not its product, and the fix is either a change of chemical or a move to 316L.

Where a plant sits near the coast, in Jeddah, Dammam or Jubail, the outside of the equipment sees salt air as well, and why 304 stains near the Saudi coast is worth reading before the grade for external surfaces is fixed.

Surface finish is part of the specification

Food-contact surfaces are specified by roughness, and the finish is written on the drawing like any other dimension. Sheet arrives from the mill in 2B for most tank work, and internal surfaces are ground, polished or electropolished to the roughness the plant's hygiene standard requires. The article on 2B, BA, No.4, hairline and mirror finishes describes what each looks like and where it belongs.

Welds are the part that matters most. Product-side welds are made with full penetration and back-purge, then ground flush and blended into the parent finish so there is no crevice, no undercut and no heat tint left to host bacteria or start corrosion. External welds on frames and legs are finished to match the visible panel.

What a good enquiry contains

For tanks and vessels: working volume, product, temperature and pressure if any, the cleaning regime and its chemicals, the nozzle and fitting schedule, the internal finish and the documentation the plant's audit needs. For piping: the line list with product and CIP duties and the fitting standard. For laser-cut parts: the drawing files, the grade and thickness, the quantity and the finish to be protected. Weights for budgeting can be checked on the sheet and plate weight calculator. When the scope is fixed, send the enquiry with the product line named and the drawings attached.

Common questions

Is 304 acceptable for food contact, or must it be 316L?

304 is acceptable and usual for most food contact. 316L is specified where chlorides are present in the product or the cleaning regime, and where the plant's own hygiene standard calls for it. The choice is made per line, not per plant: a bakery's flour handling and its brine tank can rightly be in different grades.

Can you supply material certificates for the stainless used in the tank?

Yes. Sheet, plate, pipe and fittings are received with mill test certificates, heat numbers are transferred to the cut parts and recorded on the as-built drawing, and the certificates are filed with the fabrication records so the plant's hygiene and quality audit can trace every product-contact surface to its mill heat.

What internal finish should we specify for a product tank?

The plant's hygiene standard should say, in terms of surface roughness. If it does not, tell us the product and the cleaning method and we will propose a finish, describe it on the drawing and have it approved before fabrication. Smoother is not always better: a polished surface costs more to produce and to maintain, and a well-executed lower finish can be the right answer for a dry product.

Do you make one-off parts for equipment builders as well as complete tanks?

Yes. Laser-cut panels, guards, brackets and enclosures in 304 and 316L are cut from our own sheet and plate stock to the drawing file, deburred and delivered with the protective film intact, in single units or production runs. Bending and welding are added where the drawing calls for it.