There’s another chocolate 3D printer option on the market: ChocoPrint.
The device is produced by Sweet Robo, which is a New York-based company that specializes in robotic vending equipment. Among their other products, they market vending machines that can deliver cotton candy, ice cream, balloons, marshmallows, candy, popcorn, and other items on demand. It seems they’ve decided to add a chocolate machine to their portfolio, using 3D print technology.
This device isn’t one that you’d have in your kitchen. No, it’s much like Sweet Robo’s other vending machines, which would typically be placed at a state fair or public event. Passersby would be entranced by the unusual machine and order some chocolates.
The ChocoPrint comes in two models, uniquely named “Model 1” and “Model 2”. The smaller model provides only one flavour and has a capacity of 25 units, while the larger Model 2 has two flavours and a 100-unit capacity.
Customers choose a design from “hundreds” of designs in the machine’s library. Sweet Robo can also integrate customer designs if required, like a company logo, for example. Printing then commences, and the completed chocolate is removed by the operator (Model 1) or dispensed automatically (Model 2).
In both models, the print time is “2.5-4 minutes” per job. That’s pretty quick, but from past experience with chocolate printers, the goal isn’t always detail, so the extrusions would be pretty coarse. That provides a considerable speed boost.
Four minutes is about as long as you’d want to have a customer wait for a food item, similar to a fast food restaurant. However, Sweet Robo explains:
“Watch as the magic happens. The large viewing window keeps customers glued to the process, increasing foot traffic and engagement.”
This will certainly work, as 3D printer operators have seen with their own devices: people just like watching things appear out of thin air. The same will be true for chocolate printing.
Sweet Robo lists the pricing for the two machines as:
- Model 1: US$12,000
- Model 2: US$14,500
That’s quite a bit more than you’d pay for a typical FFF 3D printer, but remember here we are talking about a commercial system that would literally generate payments for each and every print.
Let’s do some math here. Suppose you’re printing chocolates and charging, say, US$8 each. That’s a lot, but consider the novelty here of watching the chocolate being made, then eating it. At that rate, you would need to sell at least 1500 chocolates to pay for a Model 1. If you’ve placed your ChocoPrint at a weekend fair, that means you must sell around 400 units per day, or about one every two minutes. That’s faster than the machine can operate.
Clearly this machine won’t be financially feasible unless you’re taking it to multiple events over the course of a year. The conclusion is that the ChocoPrint is priced as a commercial device, and expected to be operated over a longer period to make back your investment.
Personal chocolate 3D printers have been around for many years. Checking just now, it seems that the most well-known device, the ChocEdge, is no longer for sale, as their website looks pretty dead. However, Cocoa Press also provides a high-speed chocolate 3D printer that still seems to be available.
Via Sweet Robo
