【3D Printing News】Is a lollipop your face? Who do you want to lick next time?
When it comes to 3D printing in the food industry, chocolate or other ingredients are usually thought of as printing materials. However, the latest trend is to use 3D printing to create food molds, quickly meeting customized mass production needs. Before the widespread adoption of 3D printers, manufacturing molds was very expensive, making it difficult to accept customized orders. Modern brands, advertising, and experiential events are now leveraging this new trend to offer consumers a wide variety of customized products. (Further reading: Do you want to build a snowman? Here's how to make a chocolate "Olaf"!)
3D Printed Lollipops
Parisian "Babines Lollipops" specializes in creating various uniquely shaped lollipops based on pop culture. These designs are drawn, 3D modeled, and then prototyped in their Parisian studio's Ultimaker 3D printer. For example, Facebook's "Like" icon, game controllers, dollar signs, and other popular elements can all be transformed into lollipops.
Food-safe silicone 3D printed molds are sent to local artisanal candy shops, where professional confectioners prepare the ingredients for each lollipop flavor and pour them into the silicone molds. (Further reading: 3D Printed "Perfect" Molds: Dinara Kasko, a Tech-Savvy Pastry Artist)
Victor Barnouin, founder of Babines, has worked with several French lifestyle brands and noticed that everyone was looking for new high-end promotional items to stand out in the competitive market. Victor was inspired by the rise of artisanal crafts during the recession: "Since millennials are full of selfies on Facebook and Instagram social media – why not lick their own faces?" This led to the creation of these customized lollipops, combining traditional and emerging tools.
Supercharged Modeling: 3D Scanning
London-based candy company Candy Mechanics uses 3D scanners instead of manual 3D modeling to create unique head models for each customer using reverse engineering. After producing 3D printed prototypes with an Ultimaker 3D printer, they then use a vacuum forming machine to shape the molds. These molds are eventually used to fill chocolates, dried fruits, and sugar liquids, making them very popular at weddings and banquets. Founders Sam Part and Ben Redford collaborated with professional chocolatier Will Leigh. It took them only six weeks from their first use of a 3D printer to opening a pop-up store in Selfridges, a UK department store, demonstrating their entrepreneurial journey.
Super Popsicle Transformation
Eva Snellen and Leonie Smelt founded MELT, inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Dutch "raketje" (a famous rocket-shaped popsicle).They designed their own original models and used an Ultimaker 3D printer with a vacuum forming machine to create molds. These popsicles break away from the traditional rectangular limitations, developing more geometric shapes, and are loved by the public for their unique designs.
From Tony Chocolonely, TEDx, and national museums, even the Ultimaker company has created custom popsicles! Using 3D printing to create food molds not only opens up more possibilities for the food industry but also allows businesses to avoid the costs of industrial development while achieving more refined products. Do you also need to accelerate your production line or save costs? Contact us now for professional consultation to save every penny and capture customer orders with a delivery time that beats competitors.
