Easter: Discover chocolate 3D printers

Posted By Lucie Gaget on Mar 26, 2018 | 0 comments

What if the 3D printing technology was the new solution to create food? More and more 3D printers are now available on the market, totally changing food production. 3D printing is taking more and more space, and is now intruding our plates, but how does it work? We are going to see in this blog post what are the new possibilities offered by 3D printing to create food, and we will focus on this amazing discovery: chocolate 3D printers. Who knows, you are maybe going to chase 3D printed chocolate eggs for Easter this year!

Food 3D printing: Meet the revolution

3D printing is always more and more surprising, and digital food is now becoming a reality. These food 3D printers projects are maybe more serious than what you think. For example, have you ever heard about the 3D printed pizza? Commissioned by NASA, the startup Beehex actually developed a pizza 3D printer, so the astronauts can eat pizza during their space missions.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/beehex-pizza-3d-printer-2017-3/

But food 3D printing could also be a great solution to other problems, as Milena Adamczewska working in the marketing team of byFlow, explained to us: “What is currently under an extensive, worldwide research is how 3d food printing can contribute also to the sustainability of the future of food. It’s expected to provide solutions for the need of personal dieting and help in the reduction of food waste.”  

As it is becoming possible to print anything, it is also becoming possible to 3D print one of the most amazing things in the world: chocolate. Let’s see what is actually possible to do with chocolate 3D printers and what the advantages of 3D printing chocolate are.

How 3D printing can change the chocolate industry

What are the advantages of 3D printing chocolate?

One of the main advantages of 3D printing is the accuracy of the 3D printed result that you get in the end. This technology is allowing to get impressive results, it is perfect to create shapes that it has never been possible to design before.

Taste is not enough to attract chocolate lovers. Indeed, design is now becoming a really important aspect in the chocolate industry, and chocolatiers are always working on the most impressive designs to seduce the customer. Thanks to this technology, you can convert any 3D model into a real edible chocolate creation. This technology gives total freedom to create all the customized chocolate structures! It could be a serious asset for the chefs working in the food industry. This printing technology is already well received by both professionals and customers.

3Dprint.com

“Thanks to our 3D Food Printers, chefs, caterers, chocolatiers, patissiers and other professionals from the food industry can amaze their customers and make almost all of their wishes come true. Personalization is one of the greatest benefits of 3D food printing.” explains Milena Adamczewska, “We can already observe how both chocolatiers and their customers react enthusiastically for this innovation and new opportunities it brings. Personalized food is predicted to be a dominant trend in the food industry.”

What are the 3D printers already able to print chocolate?

These kind of 3D printers are addressed to anyone, to individual but also to professional. If you are working in the food industry, you could totally implement 3D printed chocolate in your chocolate shop or in your restaurant. Here are examples of chocolate 3D printers already available.

Choc Edge

Choc Edge is a manufacturer of chocolate 3D printers. They developed an amazing chocolate printer: the Choc Creator. How to print chocolate with this 3D printer?

3D chocolate printers are working just like a regular 3D printer: You have to create a 3D model with a 3D modeling software to manufacture it with a 3D machine. Once you have your STL file, you will send it to the printer, that will transform it in G-code and 3D print an actual structure. This machine 3D created by Choc Edge prints the chocolate parts layer by layer. It is possible to 3D print all kind of chocolate with this printer. If you want to use milk chocolate, you can, but it is better to use dark chocolate as its consistency is better for 3D printing!

In order to get amazing 3D printed chocolate structures, the chocolate needs to be tempered thanks to a tempering machine.

ByFlow

byFlow is another company specialized in chocolate printing. They developed Focus, an amazing chocolate 3D printer. This machine is really easy to use (and easy to clean!) and allows to create outstanding chocolate designs.

byFlow

This Focus printer has many advantages: it is an accurate tool, food safe, easily transportable, and allowing you to print with different 3D printing materials. Indeed, only the cartridge needs to be filled with the ingredients that you want to print.

Watch the video below to see how this chocolate 3D printers work:

An useful application of 3D printing

Chocolate printing allows to go further with the applications of the additive manufacturing technology. It can be useful for educational purposes, for example. It is also a way to give much more freedom to chocolatiers. This way, they can be even more creative and amaze their customers.

Mass-customization is now present in many different industries, and the food industry is not an exception. Indeed, this way to customize food and confiseries is now really present on the market. It can be used just to create amazing decorations, but for example, brands can use this kind of 3D printed structure to make chocolate creations with the logo of their companies for special events. We can see this with 3D chocolate printers, but other companies like Pixsweet are for example creating 3D Ice Pop, that can be entirely personalized.

What about the future of 3D printing for food?

The future of this 3D technology for production, and especially for chocolate, seems really promising. It is opening new possibilities for chocolatiers, and it creates a little bit of magic for the customer. It can be used for promotional goals, for designs researches or artistic purposes.

We could ask: is this impressive technology replacing the know-how of chocolatiers ? That is not what Milena Adamczewska from the 3D printing company byFlow thinks.

byFlow

 “However, we don’t claim the 3D Food Printer will completely replace hand craft. While beautiful and traditional chocolate bon-bons will still be desired, 3D chocolate printing will give chocolatiers a chance to easily broaden their offer, satisfy more customers and create something even more unique. In the end, we still use the stairs after invention of the elevator, don’t we?”

More and more ingredients will be 3D printable in the future and could help us to solve many problems, and bring new ways to produce and experiences food with food 3D printers adapted to our needs. The 3D printing technology still has a lot to offer when it comes to food!

And you, are you ready to eat or to print 3D chocolate structures? This technology could have many benefits for your business if you are working as a chef, or in a restaurant. Think about it!

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