According to the present invention there is provided an integrated filling and pasteurising apparatus comprising a filling machine and a pasteurising machine, said pasteurising machine having a balance tank for temporary storage of product to be pasteurised, a pasteurising station coupled to receive product from the balance tank and to deliver pasteurised product to the filling machine, said filling machine comprising a hopper coupled to receive pasteurised product from said pasteurising station, a container- filling station coupled to the output of the hopper, drive means for sequentially delivering containers to be filled to the filling station and for sequentially moving filled containers from the filling station to a container-closure station, wherein control means are provided for controlling operation of said drive means to provide synchronous operation of said pasteurising machine and of said filling machine.