Engineering a Continuous Drum Flavoring Line for an Organic Pita Chips Manufacturer in Greece

VERFOOFSOLUTIONS recently delivered a belt elevator and drum flavoring line for our Greece customer, an organic breakfast biscuit brand developing its new pita chip product line. Their current portfolio is sold in roughly 5,000 retail stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, Target, Sprouts, and Wegmans. When the customer first reached out to our team, they shared their new project plan: they were building a pita chip production line but lacked two core pieces of equipment — a dedicated pita cutter and a drum machine for oiling and seasoning. They supplied us with clear production parameters: the line starts with 3,000 pieces of 25–28 cm round Arabic pita per hour. Each pita will be separated into top and bottom layers, cut into uniform 4×4 cm pieces, then coated with 10% seasoning and oil, to achieve a final finished output of 239 kg of pita chips each hour.

Our engineering team designed a fully customized solution to fit their workflow, integrating the bespoke pita cutter as the cutting station ahead of the seasoning unit. The full system consists of one pita dicing cutting machine, two belt elevators matched with our drum flavoring machine. We customized the oil spraying function on the seasoning drum as requested: oil is heated to 45 degree via heating tubes before being evenly sprayed onto the pita chips. Two separate 30L tanks are fitted for this system: one oil tank and one refill tank to guarantee stable oil supply. The second belt conveyor was engineered with an output height that perfectly aligns with the inlet of their existing packaging machine for seamless transfer.  Now let’s take a look at how we delivered custom-tailored services for this drum flavoring line to perfectly match their requirements.

• Pita Dicing Cutting Machine

Before the cut pita pieces travel via the compact feed elevator into the drum flavoring machine for oil and seasoning coating, the large raw pita bread must go through splitting and precise dicing. This Greek client’s starting material is a round pita with a diameter of 25–28 cm. Each pita is first separated into its top and bottom layers, and those thin layers then require accurate cutting into uniform 4×4 cm squares. Our initial suggestion was to use a tortilla making  machine fitted with custom moulds 15-16cm diameter to quarter the large pita rounds. However, given the unusually large diameter 28cm of this pita base, this approach could not deliver the cutting quality the client required. After the customer placed their official order for the drum seasoning production line, we proposed our multi-purpose frozen meat cube cutting machine as a viable alternative, and moved forward with targeted customisation to suit their delicate pita sheets.

Technical Discussion & Client Alignment

From the very first email, George shared clear production targets and process specifications for the new pita chip recipe. The raw material is a large circular pita, measuring 25–28 cm in diameter, and the defined workflow requires separating the pita into upper and lower layers, then cutting those thin sheets into uniform 4×4 cm squares, followed by oiling, seasoning, baking and packaging. Our initial proposal was a tortilla cutting machine fitted with custom moulds to quarter these large pita rounds. However, due to the substantial diameter of the starting pita, this solution failed to meet the client’s quality expectations. After customer confirmed their order for the drum seasoning line, we put forward our multi-purpose frozen cube cutting machine as an alternative solution. We openly communicated that the curved outer edge of these large circular pitas would create a small volume of offcut waste, while the main body of each separated layer would deliver clean, consistent 4×4 cm squares. Once we shared trial cutting footage, the customer and his team approved the cutting performance and decided to add this cutter into the same 20-foot container shipment.

Customised & Replaceable Cutting Blade Sets

Originally built for denser meat products, the standard cutter was not suitable for the fragile, ultra‑thin split pita layers, which easily shift, bunch or tear while cutting. Our engineering team modified the knife grate, moving it closer to the conveyor belt to hold the lightweight pita firmly against the belt before cutting, delivering clean, complete slices without tearing. The blade sets are fully replaceable, with cutting width and length adjustable from 1.2 cm to 5 cm. Operators can swap or reconfigure the blade groups quickly with little downtime to produce squares or rectangular strips. These heavy‑duty, corrosion‑resistant blades stay sharp through continuous runs, reducing crumbs and waste. We fitted a calibrated custom blade set for this Greek customer to reliably produce the exact 4×4 cm pita squares required for their premium organic snack sold in high‑end retail stores.

Broad Products Versatility

While this machine is widely known as a frozen meat cube cutter, its application range extends far beyond meat processing. It reliably handles beef, chicken, whole chicken, chicken legs, chicken breast, fish, vegetables, tortillas and pita bread. We previously supplied this identical model to our Australian customer, who uses it to produce consistent meat jerky cubes. This multi-functional design brings long-term value to this Greece customer, an innovative organic snack brand. If the company expands its snack portfolio in the future, the same cutter can be repurposed for alternative flatbread, vegetable or protein-based snacks without the need to invest in a separate dedicated cutting system.

• Compact Belt Conveyor

We begin the production line with the upstream feeding station. Before the pita chips enter the drum flavoring machine for oil and seasoning coating, a reliable belt conveyor is critical to maintain steady, gentle delivery. This compact feed elevator fulfils precisely this role.Let us continue to discover how this compact belt conveyor achieves smooth, gentle transfer for the delicate pita chips.

Full Stainless Steel Body

Crafted entirely from food-grade 304 stainless steel, this compact belt conveyor comes with an integrated receiving hopper, perfectly aligned with the strict sanitation standards required for this client’s organic pita chip production. Every surface that touches the pita pieces is corrosion and rust resistant. The smooth stainless steel construction also makes cleaning and sanitation straightforward between production runs — a non-negotiable advantage for organic snack brands that need to maintain rigorous food safety compliance for retail distribution across Whole Foods, Target and other premium grocery chains.

Inclined Conveyor Structure with Baffles

This compact belt conveyor inclined climbing frame paired with a baffle-equipped mesh belt is purpose-built for this customer’s delicate 4×4 cm pita chips. These thin, lightweight pita pieces easily slide backward on standard flat conveyors, which would lead to jams, pile-ups and broken chips. The built-in baffles hold each piece securely as they travel upward toward the drum flavoring machine, minimising product slippage, preventing line blockages and cutting down on wastage from cracked or crumbled pita chips.

Adjustable Coveyor Speed

VERFOODSOLUTIONS compact belt conveyor features adjustable conveying speed and delivers a steady, consistent material feed. A uniform flow of the 4×4 cm pita chips into the drum flavoring machine is critical here; fluctuating feed volumes would create uneven oil and seasoning coating across the batches. By fine-tuning the belt speed, the production team can maintain a reliable throughput, ensuring every single pita chip gets the precise 10% oil and seasoning blend as specified, for consistent flavour and texture across every finished batch.

Customized Belts

This belt conveyor offers fully customisable dimensions to fit seamlessly within unique production layouts. We can tailor the belt width, lifting height and incline angle to match the rest of the pita chip processing line. Customers also get multiple belt material options to suit their product properties, including stainless steel mesh belt, PU, PP and PVC belts. For this Greek client’s fragile pita chips, we selected the optimal belt type to strike a balance between gentle handling and reliable transport, ensuring the whole feeding system integrates smoothly ahead of their drum flavoring station.

Flexible Placement & Line Integration

Fitted with lockable casters and leveling feet, this compact belt conveyor adopts a low-noise operation design. When the production team needs to reconfigure the pita chip line or conduct deep sanitization, the machine can be easily relocated and locked firmly in place. Its modular structure also enables quick disassembly without complex tools. Running quietly during long-hour continuous production, it brings minimal disturbance to the workshop, perfectly suited for non-stop food processing environments for these organic pita chips. We custom-engineered its discharge height to precisely align with the inlet of the drum flavoring machine. This bespoke design creates a seamless handoff for the 4×4 cm pita chips from the elevator straight into the seasoning drum. There is no need for manual transferring between the two stations, eliminating extra labour, lowering the risk of product contamination, and keeping the entire pita chip production line running smoothly and continuously.

• Drum Flavoring Machine& Oil Tank System

After the pita chips are cut into uniform 4×4 cm squares and fed steadily by the upstream compact elevator, they enter the drum flavoring station — the core unit responsible for oil spraying and seasoning coating for  the customer organic pita chip line. This integrated system combines the drum flavoring machine and a custom dual oil tank assembly, built specially to meet their strict temperature and continuous-production requirements.

-Drum Flavoring Machine

Oil Spraying & Atomisation

This continuous drum flavoring machine supports precise oil spraying to satisfy the project’s 10% combined oil and seasoning addition rate for pita chips. Oil is delivered via high‑pressure imported spray nozzles to achieve fine, uniform atomisation. The drum rotation speed is fully adjustable and reversible, with built‑in electric hot air heating to accommodate different coating formulas. It runs stably at low noise and can work independently or integrate seamlessly with the upstream and downstream elevators and conveyors of the full production line. Overload and leakage protection are equipped for safe operation, and all key parameters are accessible and adjustable on the central HMI control panel. The gentle tumbling action keeps the thin pita chips intact without cracking.

Dry Powder Seasoning System

For dry seasoning coating of this drum flavoring machine, the powder feeder comes with a vibration motor. Operators can precisely adjust the powder feeding rate to regulate seasoning dosage and avoid over‑seasoning or uneven coverage. The angled rotating drum features internal triangular ridges to deliver consistent tumbling, reaching over 99% uniformity for powder distribution. Excess residual seasoning is collected by the outlet strainer for reuse.

Optimised Tumbling Structure

The inclined rotating drum is fitted with internal triangular lifting ridges, specially calibrated for thin, fragile pita chips of this drum flavoring machine. These ridges create a soft, cascading tumbling motion that evenly coats every piece without breaking or crushing the delicate 4×4 cm pita squares, while delivering a seasoning mixing uniformity of over 99%. Excess loose powder and residual seasoning are filtered and collected by the outlet strainer for recycling, cutting material waste for the organic pita chip recipe.

Hygiene-Focused Construction

Fabricated entirely from food‑grade 304 stainless steel, the unit is simple to take apart, clean and sanitise, fully meeting hygiene requirements for organic food production. It satisfies the strict hygiene and traceability standards of this Greece customer, whose organic snacks are supplied to premium Greece retail chains including Whole Foods Market, Target and Sprouts.

Flexible Line Integration

This drum flavoring machine supports two operation modes to accommodate customer‘s production schedule. It can run independently as a separate batch seasoning unit for small‑batch trial runs and recipe testing. For mass manufacturing, it connects seamlessly with the upstream pita cutting machine, compact feed elevator and the downstream large post‑seasoning elevator. It fits perfectly into this complete continuous pita chip workflow, enabling automatic, non‑stop material transfer from dicing, feeding, coating all the way to baking and packaging.

Complete Safety Protection

The drum flavouring machine is built with comprehensive electrical safety safeguards, including overload protection and leakage protection, to prevent unexpected faults during continuous long‑hour production for  this Greece customer’s pita chip line. It runs smoothly with low operational noise, creating a more comfortable factory working environment. All core running parameters, such as drum rotation speed, hot air temperature, oil spray volume and powder feeding rate, are centralised on the HMI touchscreen. Operators can conveniently monitor real‑time status and make quick adjustments without complex on‑site debugging, supporting stable, repeatable coating results for their organic pita chips.

– Dual Oil Tank System

The client required spray oil to stay steadily at 45°C for their organic pita chip recipe. Our first suggestion for the drum flavoring machine was one heated tank, yet the client worried that repeated reheating delays would halt production and asked for two separate 50 L tanks. This custom setup uses isolated circulation loops with dedicated return piping and valves for each tank to avoid mutual interference and maintain consistent oil flow. All real‑time temperatures, setpoints and pump status feed into the drum’s main HMI screen. After a one‑time fill, the system automatically manages refilling and temperature control, removing constant manual checks and enabling reliable, nonstop oil supply to support their target output of 239 kg finished pita chips per hour.

Intelligent Automatic Refill Design

During our technical negotiations, we put forward three different layout concepts for this dual‑tank system for drum flavoring machine. The first solution relied on siphon gravity flow by elevating one tank higher than the other. The second adopted a gravity auto‑refill setup combining a 100 L main tank and a 50 L auxiliary tank. After review, the client considered both passive gravity‑driven options insufficiently automated for their continuous pita chip production. We therefore moved forward with the pump‑powered design as the final approved solution. An oil transfer pump is installed between the two equal‑capacity 50 L tanks: one acts as the active spraying tank feeding oil to the nozzles, while the other functions as the reserve refill tank. Once the oil level in the working tank drops below the preset threshold, the system triggers automatic replenishment, removing the need for frequent manual oil transfer.

Liquid Level Monitoring

A high‑precision liquid level sensor is mounted on the primary active spray tank dedicated to feeding the high‑pressure spray nozzles. It continuously samples and monitors the oil level throughout the full production run, matching the line’s target throughput of 239 kg of finished organic pita chips per hour. When the oil level drops beneath the pre‑configured threshold, the sensor instantly transmits an electrical trigger signal to the system controller. The controller then activates the oil transfer pump from the reserve refill tank to top up the working tank automatically. This closed‑loop monitoring prevents the spray tank from running dry, avoids oil supply interruptions, and maintains consistent oil pressure and stable 45°C oil temperature and there is no manual checking of oil levels is required on an ongoing basis.

Independent Temperature Control

Each of the two 50-litre tanks is fitted with its own dedicated electric heating assembly and standalone temperature controller. Operators are able to set, tweak and lock the temperature for each vessel separately. This level of independent regulation reliably holds the spray oil at the client’s specified target of 45°C, the critical temperature needed to achieve consistent oil viscosity and even coating on their thin 4×4 cm organic pita chips. While one tank supplies oil continuously to the spray nozzles, the reserve tank can preheat and hold oil ready for transfer, eliminating temperature fluctuations that would otherwise disrupt the coating quality during continuous production.

– Plenty Spare Parts

A full range of spare parts accompanies this drum flavoring line . Our complimentary package contains 8 spare belts, 1 grease gun, a set of hex wrenches and 1 contactor for the cutting machine. One set of push-button switches is allocated for each piece among the two elevators and the drum seasoning machine. Furthermore, the client has ordered extra wear components: two seamless heating tubes, one high-pressure nozzle, five chain pin retaining circlips, and one drive chain for the drum seasoning machine. All these spare parts are sufficient to support the customer’s operation for around five years. Should further replacement parts be required down the line, we are ready to arrange air freight delivery upon request.

• Large Belt Conveyor

We moved on to designing the larger feed elevator that sits after the drum seasoning machine, tasked with transporting finished seasoned pita chips onward to the customer’s packaging machine. This unit shares the same core hygienic and functional design philosophy as our compact belt conveyor, but built at an enlarged scale to match the full throughput of the line. This larger elevator shares the same core features as its compact counterpart, yet every dimension is customised to the client’s unique requirements. Read on to see how we engineered it to fit seamlessly into their snack flavouring workflow.

Technical Discussion & Drawing Customization

We conducted technical communication with the Greek client at the early stage. The customer provided key parameters: the packaging machine hopper has a centre diameter of 400 mm and is positioned 3600 mm above the ground. Initially, they required at least a 1100 mm horizontal flat section at the discharge end to achieve stable material handover to the hopper. Our first drawing met all these requirements and gained the client’s initial recognition. Later our team evaluated two revision directions for the conveyor. Keeping the climbing angle at 45°, the optimal angle to stop light pita chips from sliding backward, could guarantee conveying stability but failed to cut down the overall length. Increasing the slope would reduce footprint, yet it would cause chip rollback, blockages, breakage and uneven feeding. We finally reached a balanced solution: shortening the horizontal flat discharge section from 1000 mm to 550 mm. This revision retains steady product transfer and controls the length of the disassembled flat-laid conveyor within the usable space of a 20GP container.

Container Loading & Shipment Solution

The optimized large belt conveyor only occupies 800 mm in height when disassembled and laid flat. Thanks to this feature, all four core units, including the large elevator, compact feeding elevator, drum seasoning machine and pita cutting machine, can be loaded together into one 20GP container. This scheme avoids the hazards of LCL shipment. In consolidation cargo, other goods may be stacked on top of the equipment. Though heavy custom wooden packaging is an option, it adds extra costs, and many forwarders are reluctant to accept high-value food processing machinery under such stacking risks. By redesigning the elevator’s dimensions to fit sea freight without sacrificing conveying performance, we deliver a reliable solution that protects equipment, lowers ocean freight cost and ensures stable operation of the full pita chip production line for this Greek organic snack manufacturer.

This turnkey pita chip line is a perfect example of how VERFOODSOLUTIONS balances custom engineering, food-grade hygiene, shipping practicality and stable continuous output for premium snack makers. Every piece — from the modified multi-purpose cutting machine  and gentle feeding elevators to the drum flavoring and intelligent dual oil tank system — was refined around the unique characteristics of thin pita sheets and the client’s strict recipe and throughput targets. If you are also developing pita chips, tortilla snacks, seasoned nut lines or other coated snack products and need a tailored cutting, conveying or seasoning solution, our engineering team is ready to support you. Reach out to us today to share your production parameters, product specifications and layout limits, and we will design a cost-effective, line-matched drum flavoring system built for your products.