Industrial sourcing · China to Europe

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Buyer guide · Food & candy

Hard candy production line from China

A hard candy line is limited by how fast it can cook sugar to very low moisture, not by the depositor, and the steam that cooking needs is a utility the buyer supplies and the quote rarely prices.

Ask about this machine ↗Where the numbers come from

Written and listings checked 30 September 2026. Every figure on this page names its source.

What you are actually comparing.

Two quotes, one machine name

What hides inside the price

Cooker type

Vacuum microfilm cookers boil syrup down to hard candy moisture continuously. Batch vacuum cookers are slower and suit small runs. Ask which, and how final moisture or temperature is measured.

Steam supply

Many cookers are steam heated. The boiler, its permit and the steam piping are usually outside the quote. Ask the steam flow and pressure the cooker needs.

Depositor drive

Servo depositors change piece weight and speed on the screen. Mechanical ones are set by hand. Ask strokes per minute and the maximum piece weight.

Moulds and demoulding

Hard candy is deposited into coated moulds and ejected after cooling. Lollipops need a stick inserter. Ask mould material, count and the price of a spare set.

Colour and flavour dosing

Colour and flavour are dosed after cooking. Striped and centre-filled candies need extra hoppers. Count dosing pumps in the price.

Decode the model code.

Chinese hard candy lines are often named GD plus a number read as kilograms per hour. Check it against strokes and piece weight.

One GD150 listing states 150 kg/h, 6 g maximum piece and 55 to 65 strokes a minute.
At 60 strokes a minute that is 3,600 strokes an hour, so 150,000 g / 3,600 = about 42 g per stroke, or about 7 pieces of 6 g per stroke.

Before you ask for a price.

Send these with the enquiry. Without them, any number a factory gives you is a guess dressed as a quotation.

The candy: clear, striped, centre-filled or lollipop, with piece weight and a sample.
The recipe: sugar and glucose, or sugar-free polyols, which cook differently.
Kilograms per hour and hours per day.
Steam available on site, flow and pressure, or whether a boiler is needed.
Hall humidity, because hard candy picks up moisture and turns sticky.

Turn the claim into a demonstration.

Require this	A pass looks like
Cook your own recipe at the rated output and measure final moisture or cooking temperature over a full run.	Moisture or temperature stable inside your specification for the whole run.
Deposit and demould, then weigh a counted sample of single pieces across every row.	Every piece inside your weight tolerance, no bubbles or cracks beyond your limit.
Leave a sample open in your hall conditions for a day.	No sticky surface, confirming the cook is low enough in moisture.

The documents that must arrive with it.

EU Declaration of Conformity naming the line and each serial number.
Pressure equipment papers for steam-heated cookers where the Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU applies.
Food contact declarations under Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 for cooker, hoppers and moulds.

The one people forget. The pressure equipment declaration for the cooker. Without it your insurer or boiler inspector may not let you connect steam.

When this is the wrong machine.

Buy something else if

Named, not hedged

You make pulled, rolled or cut hard candy such as rock or twisted sticks.

A batch cooker with a cooling table, batch roller and rope sizer. Depositing will not form them.

You do not have steam and cannot get a boiler permit.

An electrically heated batch cooker at lower output, or a contract manufacturer.

Where the numbers come from.

We name the kind of source, how many and when, and never the factory. Listed prices are asking prices, not landed cost. Where we do not hold a fact we say so: that is a GAP, not an estimate.

Listings · 15Fifteen marketplace listings for hard candy depositing lines, checked September 2026, advertised US$14,000 to US$120,000. None stated capacity beside the price. Asking prices, not landed cost.
Listings · 1One GD150 line checked September 2026 stated 150 kg/h, 6 g maximum piece, 55 to 65 strokes a minute, 250 kg/h steam at 0.5 to 0.8 MPa, 18 kW, 15 m long, at US$23,000.
Arithmetic60 x 60 = 3,600 strokes an hour; 150,000 / 3,600 = about 42 g a stroke; 42 / 6 = about 7 pieces.
GAPGAP - no supplier quotations logged for this machine yet. Three to five quotations for one configuration would give a real price spread.

Related machines.

Gummy making machine. Choose a gummy line if your product is a gelatin or pectin gummy, which cooks at lower solids.
Gummy depositor. Choose a standalone depositor if you already cook syrup and need small trial capacity.

Every machine we source in this area is on the Food & candy page. How a project runs, stage by stage, is on how it works, and what it costs is on pricing.

Straight answers

Questions buyers ask about this machine.

Chinese vs European hard candy production line: what differs?+

Cooker control, depositor precision and parts supply. Chinese depositing lines are common; test cook stability and weight spread on your recipe first.

What should a hard candy line factory audit look at?+

Whether they build the cooker and depositor themselves, and whether their test line has steam and can cook your recipe.

What CE documentation comes with a hard candy line?+

A Declaration of Conformity under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027, then the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, plus pressure equipment papers for the cooker. A CE mark on a brochure proves nothing.

Who is the EU importer of a hard candy line?+

The company placing it on the EU market, named on the machine or documents, which checks the conformity file. Buying direct, that is you.

Contact

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