Tea Packaging Machines: Tea Bags, Cartons and Overwrap

Which tea packaging machine fits your pack?

Choose by the finished pack. Envelope tea bags are made on an inner and outer bag machine, then loaded into retail cartons on a cartoner, and the closed carton is wrapped in clear film on an overwrapper. Matcha in single doses goes into cap cavities or tea capsules on a micro filler, or into sticks and sachets on a multi-lane powder machine. Each of these is a separate machine, and you can buy one or all of them.

Loose-leaf tea sold by weight in stand-up pouches or bags is not a tea-specific route on this page. Start with premade pouch filling machines, tell us the leaf and the pouch, and we confirm whether it is within our supply scope.

Tea bag packing machines for inner and outer bags

An inner and outer bag machine makes the envelope tea bag: tea goes into an inner bag of filter material, the bag is sealed, and each bag is closed inside its own outer envelope. On our inner and outer bag tea packaging machine the tea travels through low-impact vibratory feed channels so that the leaf breaks less on the way to the inner bag, and nitrogen flushing of the envelope is listed as an option. The second configuration in this group, the high-speed tea packaging machine, is listed without specifications or a stated pack format.

The tea bag itself is where most of the project questions sit. Our listings do not state the filter material, the bag shape or a string and tag, so these are confirmed for each project:

• Filter material: heat-seal filter paper is closed by heat, non-heat-seal paper is folded or crimped, and mesh is a different material again. Name the material you buy and send a roll sample.
• String and tag: say whether each bag carries a string and a printed tag. Tell us what you need and we confirm whether it is within our supply scope.
• Pyramid (triangle) bags: not a listed format of our tea bag machines. Tell us the bag shape and material and we confirm whether we can supply it. Our cartoning configurations do list pyramid mesh bags, so boxing and overwrapping them is a listed route.
• Outer envelope: the envelope material and print, and whether the envelope is flushed with nitrogen.
• Tea and fill weight: the leaf grade or blend, and grams per bag.

Overwrapping tea boxes with cellophane and tear tape

An overwrapper folds film tightly around the closed tea box and heat-seals the folded ends: the clear finish on boxed tea. The LV-BT280 / LV-BT350 series is our reference overwrapper. Its tea box configuration lists BOPP or cellophane film with a gold tear tape, 30–80 boxes per minute depending on box size, 220 V/380 V at 50/60 Hz and 4.5 kW, about 550 kg, and 2100 × 850 × 1500 mm. The series lists boxes 40–200 mm long, 20–120 mm wide and 10–70 mm high as one range for the whole series. Within it, the change parts and settings are made for your box; a box outside it needs a separate review.

• Tear tape: fed into the film and sealed into the wrap, so the buyer can open the box cleanly.
• Speed control: an inverter lets the wrapper follow the box feed from the cartoner without stopping.
• Seals: the side and end heat-seal plates have PID temperature control.

Other tea overwrapping configurations, without published specifications: tea box cellophane overwrapping and 3D overwrapping for tea gift boxes, both with a tear tape applicator, and tea box film wrapping with tear tape, with servo film feeding and cutting. The series also lists tea tins among its applications; send a filled tin and we check it against the box range.

Building a tea packaging line from bag to overwrapped box

A boxed tea bag line runs in this order: tea bag machine, cartoner, overwrapper, then coding and case packing if you need them. We supply each machine on its own as well as a connected line, so you can start with the station you are missing and add the others later.

Match the rates in one unit

Each machine counts something different: the bag machine counts tea bags, the cartoner cartons, the overwrapper boxes. Convert everything to cartons per minute before you compare. Hypothetical example: with an assumed 120 good tea bags per minute and 20 bags per carton, the cartoner has to close 120 ÷ 20 = 6 cartons per minute, and the overwrapper has to wrap 6 boxes per minute. That is below the overwrapper's listed 30–80 boxes per minute, so one overwrapper could take boxes from more than one cartoner if your box size allows it. These are assumed inputs, not ratings for any of our machines.

Plan the transfer between stations

• Bag machine to cartoner: how the bags leave the bag machine (flat, standing or in rows) and whether the cartoner counts them or receives them grouped. Two of our tea cartoning configurations list a filling-to-carton link with the bag machine.
• Cartoner to overwrapper: which way the box faces at the overwrapper infeed. The overwrapper's inverter lets it follow the box feed without stopping; a short buffer conveyor between the two keeps a brief stop at one machine from stopping the other.
• Coding: where the date or batch code goes, on the envelope, the carton or the film, decides which machine carries the coder.

What affects the price of a tea packaging machine

We do not publish prices. A tea packaging quotation changes mainly with these choices:

• Number of stations: one overwrapper for boxes you already pack is a different quotation from a line that runs from tea bag to wrapped box.
• Tea bag format: inner and outer bag, filter material, string and tag, and envelope material.
• Options: nitrogen flushing, tear tape, coding, and counting and grouping at the cartoner.
• Change parts: each extra bag size, count per carton or box size needs its own format parts.
• Transfer between machines: conveyors and buffering when the machines are bought as one line.

Send the details in the table at the end of this page and we quote that configuration.

Questions buyers ask about tea packaging machines

How do tea packing machines work?

In stages, each on its own machine. The tea bag machine feeds tea into an inner bag of filter material, seals it and closes it inside an outer envelope. A cartoner groups the bags to the count per carton and loads them into a carton it erects and closes. An overwrapper then folds clear film around the closed box and seals it, usually with a tear tape.

Can you make pyramid tea bags or bags with a string and tag?

Neither is a listed format of our tea bag machines. Tell us the bag shape, the filter material and whether you need a string and tag, and we confirm whether it is within our supply scope. Our cartoning configurations do list pyramid mesh bags, so cartoning and overwrapping boxes of pyramid bags is a listed route.

What is the difference between a tea sachet and a tea bag?

A tea bag is the porous bag the tea brews in. "Tea sachet" usually means the sealed outer envelope around one tea bag, although it is also used for flat packs of instant tea or matcha. Envelope tea bags are made on an inner and outer bag machine. Flat powder sachets are made on multi-lane sachet packing machines, which do not make infusion bags.

Is there a tea packaging machine for small businesses?

We build automatic machines only, not manual or benchtop tea bag machines. For a smaller operation the usual starting point is a single station, such as an overwrapper for boxes you already fill. Send your volumes, and the quotation states the output the machine is set up for.

Can I buy only a cartoner or an overwrapper for my existing tea bag machine?

Yes. We supply each machine on its own. Send the bag machine's output, how the bags leave it and a short video of the discharge, so the infeed and transfer are quoted with the cartoner or overwrapper.

Can the overwrapper wrap tea tins as well as cartons?

The LV-BT280 / LV-BT350 series lists tea tins among its applications, next to cartons and gift boxes. The tin has to fall inside the series range of 40–200 mm long, 20–120 mm wide and 10–70 mm high, and its shape decides how the film folds. Send a filled tin and we check it.

What is the best packaging for tea?

From the machine side, each layer has a job. The inner bag holds a measured dose and lets the tea brew. The outer envelope keeps each bag separate and can be flushed with nitrogen. The carton groups and displays the bags, and a film overwrap with tear tape keeps the box closed until it is opened. Which layers you need depends on the tea's shelf life and where it is sold.

How much does a tea packaging machine cost?

We do not publish prices, because the number of stations, the tea bag format, the count per carton, the box size and options such as nitrogen flushing and tear tape all change the quotation. Send the details in the table below and we quote that configuration.