The Foodini 3D Printer Lives!

The last time we wrote about the Foodini 3D printer, it was April of 2014, more than two years ago. Now, the machine is available! 

The Foodini by Natural Machines is a bit different from some of the other food printing prototypes, which essentially are normal 3D printers with a paste extruder attached. The Foodini actually can cook your food, too! 

It operates by using “food capsules”, which are loaded with pasty versions of the ingredients for the particular recipe being undertaken. Paste is extruded in the appropriate shapes and layers, as you might imagine any 3D printer doing. The big difference is that if the food requires cooking, the Foodini can do so by heating the food to the required temperatures and durations. 

The company’s initial Kickstarter intended on delivering the machine in 2015, which has long past. I had begun to suspect the company had faded out, as so many others have done, but then a surprise email notification from them explained: 

Foodini is already officially in production: we successfully completed and shipped a production run at the same price point we are offering you today. We kept the first production run to a small volume to test the manufacturing lines. We’re very happy with the output and the high quality of Foodini, and we are now moving forward with a larger – yet limited quantity – production run. The initial production run sold out in a short period of time, and due to demand we expect the same thing will happen with this production run… so place your order quickly.

They’re offering the Foodini in this production run for USD$4,000, which is a bit more than you’d pay for a typical 3D printer. But this isn’t one. It’s a 3D printing OVEN! 

With this machine and some food-design ingenuity, you could create some pretty amazing food products: 

Amazing, aren’t they? 

Now a word of caution: I’ve always been a bit suspicious of the viability of 3D food printers due to the ingredient constraints, slow speeds of printing and safety. That said, I’d consider the Foodini and experimental device with which one could test many different food concepts. It’s a machine designed to print food right from the start, unlike most other food extruders. 

Via Natural Machines