【3D Printing News】Is your face a lollipop? Who do you want to lick next time?
When it comes to 3D printing in the food industry, people usually think of chocolate or other ingredients as printing materials. However, the latest trend is to use 3D printing to create food molds, quickly meeting customized mass production demands. 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" feature various pop culture-themed lollipops as a major characteristic. These designs are drawn, 3D modeled, and then prototyped on an Ultimaker 3D printer in their Paris studio. 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 create custom ingredient blends for each lollipop flavor and pour them into the silicone molds. (Further reading: "Playful" 3D Printed Molds: Dinara Kasko, a Tech-Savvy Pastry Artist)
Victor Barnouin, who founded Babines, previously worked for several French lifestyle brands and noticed that everyone was looking for new, high-end promotional items to stand out in a competitive market. Inspired by the rise of artisanal crafts during the recession, Victor thought: "Since millennials are full of selfies on Facebook and Instagram, why not lick your own face?" Thus, he created these customized lollipops, combining traditional and emerging tools.
Modeling with a Boost: 3D Scanning
Candy Mechanics, a confectionery company based in London, uses 3D scanners instead of manual 3D modeling. They create unique avatars for each customer using reverse engineering. After producing 3D printed prototypes with an Ultimaker 3D printer, they use a vacuum forming machine to shape the molds. These molds are ultimately used to fill with chocolate, dried fruit, and sugar syrup, making them very popular at weddings and parties. Founders Sam Part and Ben Redford collaborated with master chocolatier Will Leigh, and it only took them six weeks from their first use of a 3D printer to open a pop-up store in the UK department store Selfridges, steadily progressing on 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 along with a vacuum forming machine to create molds. These popsicles break away from traditional rectangular shapes, developing into more geometric forms, and are loved by the public for their unique designs.
From Tony Chocolonely, TEDx to national museums, and even the Ultimaker company itself, customized popsicles have been created! Using 3D printing to create food molds not only opens up more possibilities for the food industry but also allows businesses to avoid industrial development costs while obtaining more refined products. Do you also need to accelerate your production line and save costs? Contact us now for professional consultation to save every penny and win customer orders with faster delivery than your competitors.
