Several 3D food printers have been attempted, but now there’s a “plug and play” version called the “Bocusini”.
The Bocusini is plug and play due to two key features:
- A simplified cartridge system which is easily plugged into the printer.
- A simple app to control the printing process
And it really is as simple as that. You just need to have a selection of cartridges available containing the desired food substances. They say they have successfully tested some 30 different food products:
These are part of the six most important food categories: Confectionary (choci, marzipan, chewing gum, fudge, jelly), bakery products (cookie, meringue, biscuit), snack products (potato crisps, savoury snacks), fruit & vegetable Products (all kind of fruit purees, fruit sauces, fruit jellies or gelled vegetables), meat products (different pates and meat spreads) and dairy products (cream cheese or yoghurt). In the beginning, we will offer pre-filled Bocusini cartridges with marzipan, choci and fudge.
And they expect to release more in the future. They also say that it’s quite possible for users to reload the cartridges themselves, with some minor training.
Initially the product will be mated with a standard Printrbot Metal 3D printer, suggesting to us that we won’t have to worry about the printer mechanicals: Printrbot has already made their machines work very well. This simplifies the work to merely integrating their food printing elements into an existing device.
For now, the company offers a “Junior” food printing system for €549 (USD$630), but as is customary in crowdfunding campaigns, the price rises as items are sold.
Will they succeed? It’s hard to say, as there have been a number of poorly-received food printing initiatives in the past, but making the usage as easy as possible will certainly help.
Via Bocusini and Kickstarter
