SL-450 Pillow Packing Machine for Cape Verde Chocolate Bar Manufacturer
A premium chocolate manufacturer in Cape Verde replaced hand-wrapping with the Shuliy SL-450 pillow packing machine. After 120 days of operation, daily output rose from 480 to 2,600 bars per shift, defect rate fell from 3.0% to 0.5%, and the integrated laser coding system cleared Lisbon customs on the first attempt for EU retail distribution. Below is the full delivery story, including the spec sheet, installation timeline, and 4.5-month ROI.
Customer Background
Cape Verde is a Portuguese-speaking archipelago of 10 volcanic islands off the northwest coast of Africa. Although the country does not grow cocoa, it has become a regional hub for value-added chocolate production,
The company imports single-origin cocoa beans from West Africa — primarily from São Tomé and Príncipe, with smaller lots from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire — and processes them into 70%, 80%, and 95% dark chocolate bars in 50 g, 100 g, and 250 g formats. The factory currently employs 12 workers and produces approximately 1.0 ton of finished chocolate bars per month.
Before 2026, every bar was still wrapped by hand. Five workers on a single shift could wrap about 480 bars per 8-hour day, a bottleneck that limited growth and forced the company to turn away three bulk orders from Lisbon hotel chains in 2025.
The Challenge Before the SL-450 Pillow Packing Machine
By late 2025, the customer faced three simultaneous problems:
- Volume bottleneck — hand-wrapping capped output at 480 bars per shift, blocking the company’s plan to grow from 1.0 to 2.0 tons per month to satisfy the Lisbon and Sal Island demand.
- Export compliance — EU Regulation 1169/2011 and US FDA 21 CFR 101 require a printed batch code, best-before date, and lot identifier on every retail unit. Hand-stamping on each wrapper was inconsistent and caused two customs holds in Lisbon during 2025.
- Carnival-season surge — February and March demand from Sal and Boa Vista resorts spikes to 2.5x baseline; the manual line could not keep up, and the company lost repeat orders to a Brazilian competitor.
The customer evaluated three flow-wrap brands. Two could not integrate a laser coder on the same line; the third quoted a 16-week delivery plus a separate ink-jet station costing an additional USD 4,800. Shuliy’s SL-450 with built-in laser coding was selected because the entire line arrived in 6 weeks, and the coder mounts directly on the sealing jaw, eliminating alignment drift between wrapper and printer.
Why Choose the Shuliy SL-450 Pillow Packing Machine for Chocolate Bar
The full technical configuration of the machine is summarized below.
| Maschinenname | Spec |
| Kissenverpackungsmaschine | Modell: SL-450 Power Supply: 220V 50Hz 4.2kw Bag Length: 250-600mm Packing height: 140mm Verpackungsgeschwindigkeit: 40–230 Beutel/Min Film Width: max 800 mm Weight: 1500kg Machine Size: 4200*1300*1650mm With Laser Coding |
Five design points matched the factory’s needs:
- Integrated laser coding — the 10 W CO₂ laser mounts on the sealing jaw, so batch code, best-before date, and EU/UKCA logo print in one pass with zero alignment drift.
- 220 V / 50 Hz native — Cape Verde uses the same grid as Portugal, so no transformer was required.
- Bag length 250 – 600 mm — cover 50 g, 100 g, and 250 g chocolate bars on a single former set; changeover takes about 12 minutes.
- 140 mm packing height — comfortably handle 95% dark chocolate bars with a 25 mm thickness allowance.
- 800 mm film width — support the EU-mandated 30 mm-wide ingredient list on the back seal without secondary printing.
Results After 120 Days of Operation
| Metric | Before (hand-wrap) | After 120 days (SL-450) |
|---|---|---|
| Bars per 8-hour shift | 480 | 2,600 |
| Defect rate (seal / coding) | 3.0% | 0.5% (QC report CV-CH-2026-012) |
| Wrapping staff per shift | 5 | 1 |
| EU export order lead time | 18 days | 7 days |
| Customs holds (Lisbon) | 2 in 12 months | 0 (recorded Jan–May 2026) |
| Monthly output | 1.0 tons | 1.9 tons (May 2026, trending to 2 tons) |
| ROI | – | 4.5 months (vs. 7-month projection) |
What the Customer Says
“The SL-450 arrived in Praia faster than the other quotes, and the laser coding passed Lisbon customs on the very first shipment — that alone saved us a six-figure re-routing fee. We delivered the entire Carnival-season surge to Sal and Boa Vista resorts without a single late truck. Engineer Zhang trained our team in Portuguese, and we are now preparing a second line for our new 30 g tourist-size bars.”
— Founder & Managing Director, Cape Verde
Get a Quote for Your Chocolate Packing Project
To request a tailored configuration, packing-speed video, or CIF quotation, contact our export team at sales@tianhuipackingmachine.com or via WhatsApp +86-13673689272.
For more machine details, pls read Pillow Packaging Machine page.
