Forget ordering a large pizza, just print one out. This dream can now become a reality. A Barcelona-based startup called Natural Machines debuted its 3D printer for food. The printer can print sweet and savory dishes.
The "Foodini" printer is not much different from other 3D printers on the market, but instead of printing plastic, the printer squeezes fresh ingredients out of capsules to create food items such pizza, spaghetti, mini burgers and chocolate, just to name a new.
"It's the same technology," co-founder of Natural Machines Lynette Kucsma says,"but with plastics there's just one melting point, whereas with food it's different temperatures, consistencies and textures. Also, gravity works a little bit against us, as food doesn't hold the shape as well as plastic."
However, the Foodini only prints and assembles the food. The user will still have to cook the food before it is ready to eat. But the company plans on developing another model in the future that serves up ready-to-eat dishes.
"In essence, this is a mini food manufacturing plant shrunk down to the size of an oven," Kucsma says.
The 3D printer, which features a touchscreen that can bring up cloud-based recipes, aims to promote healthy eating using fresh ingredients. Users will also be able to control the printer by using their smartphones and can share their creations with others.
But will people want to eat 3D prepared food?
"We have done tests and everybody liked the food," Kucsma says. "Take the microwave oven, for example: in the 70s, people were a bit fearful about it, they thought food could be poisoned with radiation or something, but fast forward 30 years, and there's one in every household. This is real food, with real fresh ingredients, it's just prepared using a new technology."
Foodini will initially only be sold to kitchen professionals to save them from time-consuming aspects of cooking such as cake decorating or filled pasta, but the 3D printer will be available for the average foodie at a later date for $1,000.
The company is also working with major food manufacturers to create pre-packaged capsules that will be preservative-free. The shelf life of these capsules will only last five days.
Natural Machines plans to release the Foodini in the second half of 2015.
Photo Credit: Natural Machines
