How Combination Weighers Drive Productivity in the Food Industry

The Evolution of China’s Food Industry

Following the "Ninth Five-Year Plan," China's food industry has seen tremendous growth, achieving notable milestones in scale and brand development. Leading domestic brands such as Hsu Fu Chi, Big White Rabbit, Alps, and Yake have emerged, contributing to an industry valued at over ¥15 trillion by 2020. However, despite these achievements, Chinese food manufacturers still lag behind international giants like Nestlé, Kraft, and Hershey in terms of production scale and labor productivity.

While top global confectionery brands post annual sales from ¥20 billion to over ¥600 billion, Chinese counterparts typically range between ¥500 million to ¥6 billion. The labor productivity gap is even more striking, with foreign companies significantly outperforming domestic ones.

Why Global Giants Invest in Combination Weighers

Foreign manufacturers face higher operational costs—particularly labor. For instance, an average worker in Europe or the U.S. earns more than $30,000 annually, roughly 30 times the wage of a worker in China. This economic pressure forces global companies to adopt automation to maintain competitiveness.

Combination weighers, especially multihead systems, offer unmatched speed and precision in quantitative weighing and packaging. These systems—costing between $150,000 and $250,000—are commonplace in Nestlé and Hershey factories, where hundreds of high-speed, 14- to 20-head combination weighers operate in a single workshop.

Each combination weigher system can:

• Save up to 60 employees (around $2 million/year)

• Reduce raw material waste by up to 30 tons annually

• Achieve speeds of 140+ packs per minute

• Improve hygienic management and plant space utilization

Their impact is both direct—cutting labor and material costs—and indirect, offering benefits in machine maintenance, hygiene control, and production consistency. It’s no wonder that combination weighers are often referred to as “the king of quantitative weighing.”

Closing the Gap: Kenwei's Role in Domestic Automation

Many domestic food enterprises have yet to adopt combination weighers, either due to limited awareness or the high cost of imported systems. This gap has allowed manual weighing or outdated cup-based systems to persist, limiting efficiency and competitiveness.

Enter Guangdong Kenwei, a pioneer in domestic intelligent weighing technology. Kenwei offers high-speed, high-precision combination weighers that make automation accessible to more Chinese manufacturers. With lower costs and proven performance, Kenwei's systems are helping businesses transition from labor-intensive production to automated, efficient operations.

From global names like Hershey and American New Food to leading Chinese brands like Qiaqia and Nissin, Kenwei combination weighers are powering a new era of productivity in the food industry. Their application is setting the stage for:

• Smarter factory environments

• Reduced operational costs

• Increased production automation

• Enhanced product consistency and hygiene

Conclusion

Combination weighers are no longer a luxury exclusive to global food giants. With domestic innovators like Kenwei, even small to mid-sized manufacturers can harness the power of automation. As China's food industry continues to grow and modernize, intelligent weighing systems will be at the heart of its transformation—ensuring quality, efficiency, and profitability.