Material

Pet Food Kibble

Answer in brief

Kibble leaves the coater as a finished product and arrives at the bag as whatever the conveying system left of it.

Breakage creates fines that look like poor quality in the bag, and fat coating transfers to every surface the product touches.

Keep velocity and drop heights low from coater to packer.
Design for fat buildup and for cleaning it off.
Watch segregation where shapes or sizes are mixed.

Reviewed October 21, 2026 · Updated October 21, 2026

Handling challenges

Pet food plants run high tonnages of a fragile, oily product, and the two properties pull the design in opposite directions.

Breakage and fines

Each transfer point produces fines, and fines at the bottom of a bag are the most common consumer complaint.

Bucket elevators with soft discharge or belt conveyors in place of screw conveyors.
Spiral let-downs instead of vertical drops into silos and packers.
Rate control so that lines run full and slow rather than fast and surging.

Fat coating

Coated kibble leaves a film on chutes, belts and silo walls, which collects fines, turns rancid and becomes the cleaning problem of the plant.

Smooth, accessible surfaces, removable chute sections and a cleaning schedule based on fat load rather than calendar habit keep this under control.

Segregation

Mixed-shape products and added treats separate by size and density in every silo and every fall.

Mass flow bins, controlled fill points and short free fall into the packer reduce the variation that the consumer sees as an uneven mix.

Dust and explosion risk

Kibble fines and the dust from grinding and mixing upstream are combustible, and collectors and enclosed conveyors deserve the same assessment as in human food plants.