Food and beverage factories or food-related processing plants include a vast array of project types.

A dairy or beverage plant. A catering or industrial kitchen. A slaughterhouse or fish packing facility. A bakery. A fruit and vegetable processing plant. A snack production facility. Freezers, bottling lines, raw material processing, packaging and storage areas.

These are a few examples of businesses and areas that exist in the food processing industry. And each of them has its own specific requirements for flooring, walls, and other surfaces whether for new construction or renovation.

Of all elements in a food processing plant,
flooring
is arguably the most visible, most abused and one of the most vital contributors to the facility's success.
In the food and manufacturing industry, around
80%
of major injuries caused by slips and falls happen due to water or foodstuffs that have not been cleared away.
Pathogens such as Salmonella, E.coli and Campylobacter result in
600 million
cases of foodborne diseases and around 500,000 deaths each year.¹

1Source: World Health Organization (WHO) estimate of global burden of foodborne diseases, 2015

Construction of Factories, Systems Plus Knowhow

Sika man and owner food beverage factory standing talking side by side with Sika yellow floor Sikafloor® PurCem®

A functional and purpose-built floor is key to a safe, hygienic production environment. Floors that are hygienic, non-slip, easy to clean and durable provide a secure, attractive place to work. Choosing and installing the right floor is critical to every work environment.

The floor must be hygienic, functional, tough and safe to walk on. 

Sika offers solutions for food and beverage production plants. Sika helps owners, designers and project managers select and install the right floors, walls, ceilings, and other finishes for all their food processing and distribution needs.

Building from the ground up or renovating an existing facility provides opportunities to secure a company’s future success. Just as choosing the right food processing equipment is crucial to that success, so is choosing the right flooring, finishes and details and installing it all properly.

Three Critical Factors in a Food Processing Factory

Industrial floor coating with Sikafloor resin cementitious flooring system in food facility
Industrial floor coating with Sikafloor resin cementitious flooring system in food facility
 The industrial floor cleaned in a wet area

1. Hygienic and Easy to Clean

Cleaning of floors in the food industry differs from site to site and from process to process. Regardless, the goal is the same - to maximize hygiene and minimize food infection risks.

Cleaning methods must always be adjusted to the environment and operations. For flooring, for instance, higher surface roughness requires more scrubbing and mechanical work. A rough floor needs to be flushed with higher amounts of water than a smooth one.

In principle, all food and beverage factories use similar detergents and chemicals. However, their use and cleaning procedures may differ between processes. In the same factory, there may be dry processing and wet processing areas with different kinds of contamination.​

Industrial floor coating with Sikafloor resin cementitious flooring system in food facility

2. Safe and Slip-Resistant

Employee safety is one of the most important requirements for any workplace. Slips and falls are among the most common injuries at work. Most occur because the floor is wet or contaminated.

Four main factors can cause a worker to slip and fall down. These include environment, organization, footwear and individual factors. When selecting the floor surface texture for required slip-resistance, the most important issues to consider are the degree of contamination, applied cleaning regime, slopes and the shoes or boots that personnel wear.

Learn more about personal safety in food and beverage factories
Industrial floor coating with Sikafloor resin cementitious flooring system in food facility

3. Tough and Durable

A durable floor is one that lasts a long time and one that resists deterioration and loss of performance. Main exposure factors include thermal shocks, chemical stress and mechanical loads causing wear and impact. Durable floors begin with quality materials, good design and sound workmanship.

Learn more about durability in food and beverage factories
 The industrial floor cleaned in a wet area

Sika Floor and Wall Solutions for Factories

Sika flooring and wall coating solutions are designed according to these types of operations in general. However, the right solutions to be specified in your project should always come from personal advice of a Sika flooring expert because floor plans and requirements vary from project to project. Click on the areas below to learn more.

Extreme Exposure Areas in Production and Processing

Typical Stressors:
High temperature shocks, aggressive chemical exposure, constantly wet areas, high impacts

Typical Areas:
Abattoir, dairy production, fish processing, freezers

Sika Solution:
Sikafloor® PurCem® troweled or textured floor systems in 6 – 12 mm thickness

Safe and hygienic surface in food and beverage production plants
Wet Production and Processing

Typical Stressors:
Constantly wet, aggressive chemical attack, medium to high temperature shock, high impacts

Typical Areas:
Meat and vegetable processing, bottling areas and clean-in-place (CIP) areas

Sika Solution:
Sikafloor® PurCem® troweled, textured or smooth floor systems in 4 – 12 mm thickness

 The industrial floor cleaned in a wet area
Laboratory and Social Rooms

Typical Stressors:
Pedestrian traffic, moderate impacts and chemical exposure

Typical Areas:
Quality control, development labs, social rooms

Sika Solution:
Sikafloor® MultiDur, Sika ComfortFloor® or Sikafloor® MultiFlex smooth or textured floor systems

Clean red and white decorative laboratory interior floor with female research technician at work
Office Areas

Typical Stressors:
Pedestrian traffic

Typical Areas:
Offices, reception, cafeteria

Sika Solution:
Sika ComfortFloor® or Sikafloor® MultiFlex smooth or textured floor systems

Sika ComfortFloor® white beige floor in office meeting room
Storage and Logistics Areas

Typical Stressors:
Moderate hygiene, high wearing and impact stress

Typical Areas:
Warehouse, storage, battery charging, cold rooms

Sika Solution:
Sikafloor® Dry Shake and Liquid hardener systems
Sikafloor® PurCem® or Sikafloor® MultiDur smooth or textured floor systems

Safe and hygienic surface in food and beverage production plants
Dry Production and Processing Areas

Typical Stressors:
Moderate use of water in cleaning, medium to high aggressive chemical exposure, impacts and high wear

Typical Areas:
Powder processing, bakeries, chocolate production, dry packaging

Sika Solution:
Sikafloor® PurCem® troweled, textured or smooth floor systems in 3 – 6 mm thickness
Sikafloor® MultiDur textured or smooth systems

Hygenic flooring systems at Pilger Bakery in Germany
Wall Coatings

Typical Stressors:
Moderate use of water in cleaning, medium to high aggressive chemical exposure, impacts and high wear, frequent cleaning and disinfection

Typical Areas:
All areas which require durable walls such as processing and production areas, extreme exposure, freezers, bottling areas, warehouse, labs and more

Sika Solution:
Sikagard® wall coatings, reinforced or unreinforced

Colorful wall coating in laboratory corridor made with Sika coating systems

Sika Solutions

Sika® Ucrete®

Green floor of a food processing plant

Sika® Ucrete® is dense and impervious. It is the ideal flooring solution where the highest hygienic standards are required and for the toughest industrial environments.

Where are Sika® Ucrete® Floor Systems Used

Sika® Ucrete® industrial flooring is a family of heavy-duty, resin systems widely used in:

  • Food and beverage facilities
  • Chemical processing plants
  • Pharmaceutical industry
  • Heavy-duty processing areas

Sikafloor® PurCem®

Factory Purcem

Sikafloor® PurCem® is a polyurethane cementitious hybrid flooring which delivers extreme performance in terms of mechanical and chemical resistance as well as reduced environmental impact. It's very durable, seamless, requires low maintenance and is available in many finishing options.

This system is resistant to high temperature variations and thermal shocks thanks to its special core technology - an elastic resin binder reacting with cementitious fillers.

What is Sikafloor® PurCem®

All Sikafloor® PurCem® grades can be installed on damp concrete surfaces. Typically, Sikafloor® PurCem® floors are installed in a light or heavy anti-slip broadcast or in a full mortar build-up to ensure high performance in wet areas. A smooth, light-textured surface finish is available for dry areas.

What is Sikafloor® PurCem® Gloss

Sikafloor® PurCem® Gloss is the latest innovation in this product family. The glossy finish allows for significantly easier floor cleaning. Specified with a smooth surface finish in a low- to medium- thickness, this solution can be an alternative to some Sikafloor® MultiDur systems.

Where are Sikafloor® PurCem® Floor Systems Used

The versatile Sikafloor® PurCem® floor range has a long time track record and can be found in a variety of heavy-duty applications.

It is commonly found in:

  • Food and beverage processing facilities
  • Professional kitchens 
  • Cool storage areas and freezers
  • Heavy-duty processing areas, especially wet processing

Sikafloor® MultiDur

Sikafloor MultiDur

Sikafloor® MultiDur is the global standard by Sika for epoxy floor systems. As a workhorse for heavy-duty performance, these floor systems offer excellent mechanical strength, wear-resistance and chemical resistance. They are aesthetically pleasing, even if the color and design are not the major driver in choosing them. These floors excel in functionality and long-lasting performance.

How to Choose a Sikafloor® MultiDur System

Choose from smooth, textured, broadcasted (slip-resistant) and mortar finishes best suit the project needs of usability, safety and cleaning regime. Within the Sikafloor® MultiDur family, you will find special solutions with extremely high chemical resistance; solutions approved for clean room usage and electrostatic discharging, dissipative and electrically conductive flooring. For more basic flooring use and high-performance wall coating needs, we offer water-borne coating systems.

Where are Sikafloor® MultiDur Floor Systems Used

Sikafloor® MultiDur solutions are commonly found in:

  • Storage, logistics and sales areas
  • Production, processing and clean room areas
  • Ground-bearing decks, car parks
  • Commercial, public and residential areas

Sikafloor® Dry Shake and Liquid Hardeners

Sikafloor MultiDur

The Sikafloor® dry shake and liquid hardener range is used for concrete surface hardening, curing and sealing as well as for heavy-duty industrial concrete floors.

 

How are Sikafloor® Dry Shake and Liquid Hardeners Installed

Our dry shake Sikafloor® powders are broadcasted directly onto the fresh concrete – before the powerfloat and power troweling finish – to create an extremely hard-wearing, monolithic concrete floor. Additional performance can be achieved through various liquid-applied surface hardeners, curing compounds and surface sealers. The latest development uses special finishing aid products to make colored and more aesthetic applications.

Where are Sikafloor® Dry Shake and Liquid Hardeners Used

Sikafloor® concrete flooring solutions are commonly found in:

  • Storage, logistics and sales areas
  • Non-critical, heavy-duty industrial areas such as dry processing facilities

Details & Joints

The Floor's Weakest Part

Joints and junctions are the weakest part of a flooring system in industrial environments. They are exposed to similar stresses as the floor itself, but also need to accommodate possible movements in the structure or between building components.

Channels and drains used in industrial flooring
Sika floor corner detail hygienic coving wall to floor connection

See Some of Sika’s Food & Beverage Reference Projects

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Contact Us

Our product solutions and project support provide: 

  • Single point of contact for all product technologies and access to the Sika network 
  • The best fit solutions for your specific applications 
  • Complete solutions from roof to basement 
  • Specification and detail development support 
  • Local building codes, standards and practical application knowledge 
  • Sika specialized and certified contractor network 
  • Expert technical assistance throughout your project