An apparatus for cutting slices of a food product and loading them on a conveying surface, of the type comprising: a slicing machine for cutting rows of slices from a number of pieces of food product arranged in parallel; and a loading unit including at least one conveyor belt for receiving said rows of slices from said slicing machine and loading them on a moving conveying surface, characterized in that said loading unit comprises: a set of array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) arranged in parallel, each of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) being dimensioned for receiving thereon said rows of slices with the slices arranged in a single layer, each row having a number of slices equal to said number of pieces of food product; individually actuated forward movement means for moving any one of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) in a forward direction synchronously with the operation of the slicing machine; transverse movement means including a motor for jointly moving the array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) along guide members in a direction transverse to said forward direction so as to align the start of any one of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) with said slicing machine for receiving thereon successive rows of slices arranged in said transverse direction until forming a partial array of slices on each array-forming conveyor belt (7a, 7b, 7c); and transfer means for transferring said partial arrays from the array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) to said moving conveying surface, so that the partial arrays together form a complete array of slices arranged in a single layer on the moving conveying surface. a slicing machine for cutting rows of slices from a number of pieces of food product arranged in parallel; and a loading unit including at least one conveyor belt for receiving said rows of slices from said slicing machine and loading them on a moving conveying surface, characterized in that said loading unit comprises: a set of array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) arranged in parallel, each of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) being dimensioned for receiving thereon said rows of slices with the slices arranged in a single layer, each row having a number of slices equal to said number of pieces of food product; individually actuated forward movement means for moving any one of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) in a forward direction synchronously with the operation of the slicing machine; transverse movement means including a motor for jointly moving the array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) along guide members in a direction transverse to said forward direction so as to align the start of any one of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) with said slicing machine for receiving thereon successive rows of slices arranged in said transverse direction until forming a partial array of slices on each array-forming conveyor belt (7a, 7b, 7c); and transfer means for transferring said partial arrays from the array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) to said moving conveying surface, so that the partial arrays together form a complete array of slices arranged in a single layer on the moving conveying surface. a set of array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) arranged in parallel, each of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) being dimensioned for receiving thereon said rows of slices with the slices arranged in a single layer, each row having a number of slices equal to said number of pieces of food product; individually actuated forward movement means for moving any one of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) in a forward direction synchronously with the operation of the slicing machine; transverse movement means including a motor for jointly moving the array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) along guide members in a direction transverse to said forward direction so as to align the start of any one of said array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) with said slicing machine for receiving thereon successive rows of slices arranged in said transverse direction until forming a partial array of slices on each array-forming conveyor belt (7a, 7b, 7c); and transfer means for transferring said partial arrays from the array-forming conveyor belts (7a, 7b, 7c) to said moving conveying surface, so that the partial arrays together form a complete array of slices arranged in a single layer on the moving conveying surface.