Food manufacturers across the UK and EU are facing mounting pressure to control product giveaway, as rising input costs, persistent inflation, tighter margins, and increasing sustainability expectations make overfilling an ever more costly challenge.
The issue is being highlighted by Dean Ball, Product Manager at Ishida Europe, world leader in weighing, packing and quality control solutions, and is prompting manufacturers to re-evaluate their machinery and if they are achieving consistently high weighing accuracy on their packing lines.
Product giveaway – where packaged foods are overfilled beyond their declared weight – has long been a challenge across the food industry. However, with UK inflation still elevated (2.8% in May 2026 versus a 2% Consumer Price Index (CPI) target), alongside rising labour and energy costs, Dean Ball indicates that even small levels of overfill can significantly erode profitability over time:
“Giveaway is often seen as an unavoidable cost of doing business, and with factories managing multiple day‑to‑day priorities, opportunities to address it can sometimes be overlooked.
“For this reason, the way performance data is captured, presented and acted upon is becoming increasingly important. Real-time visibility allows manufacturers to identify trends early and take corrective action, helping to bring product giveaway under closer control. Solutions such as AI‑driven remote monitoring systems are designed to support this by turning data into practical insights that can significantly improve weighing accuracy.”
Dean continues: “Product giveaway is typically driven by a combination of factors. Higher line speeds can increase variation from the target weight, increasing the likelihood of overfilled packs. This is often compounded by more complex product mixes and formats, ageing equipment, inconsistent maintenance, and a natural tendency to overcompensate to avoid underweight risk.”
In many cases, it comes back to how effectively multihead weighers are set up and operated as the core portioning system on the line. Factors such as product feed consistency, hopper configuration and timing, surface and material selection, and regular performance checks all have a direct impact on weighing accuracy and overall control.
“This is where data becomes increasingly important. By improving how performance is monitored, visualised and acted upon, manufacturers can identify the root causes of variation earlier and make more targeted adjustments. Solutions such as AI‑driven monitoring platforms, including Ishida’s Sentinel 5.0, support this by turning production data into clear, actionable insights that help optimise machine performance and reduce giveaway.”
Dean concluded: “These are not theoretical improvements, but proven, practical measures that can be implemented today. The technology and expertise already exist – the opportunity now is to apply them more consistently across operations.
For more about Ishida Europe and its Multihead weigher range, visit https://www.ishidaeurope.com/en/products/weighing-machines/multihead-weighers/