Hershey Chocolate Printer on the Move

When I was a kid, my mother went through a candy-making phase. We had dozens of plastic tray molds, into which we would pour molten chocolate to create (sort of) 3D confections shaped like Christmas trees, pumpkins, basketballs, candy canes and all sorts of other objects.

Chocolate giant The Hershey Co. teamed up with 3D Systems late last year to take that idea to the next level. The companies jointly developed the CocoJet, a chocolate 3D printer that was on display at the 2015 International CES show this past January. The printer is now touring the U.S., and was recently featured at the Re:Make 2015 conference in San Francisco.

“We are now using 3D technology to bring Hershey goodness to consumers in unanticipated and exciting ways,” said Will Papa, Chief Research and Development Officer, The Hershey Company, when the printer was announced. “3D printing gives consumers nearly endless possibilities for personalizing their chocolate, and our exhibit will be their first chance to see 3D chocolate candy printing in action.”

The printer went on display at Hershey’s Chocolate World attraction in Hershey, PA, last December, and the company says it will provide valuable market research about consumer applications for chocolate 3D printing.

The printer can create elaborate 3D chocolates in a variety of complex shapes. Theoretically, any 3D print design could be rendered in chocolate, provided the design is based on open source patterns.

3D Systems said it would announce its commercial plans for the printer at a later date, but no word so far.

There’s at least one other prominent chocolate printer out there, the Choc Edge printer, although it appears you can’t actually order one from the company’s website.

You can see the CocoJet printer in action in the video below:

Source: TechCrunch