3D printed confectionary became a consumer reality this week with the launch of the ‘Magic Candy Factory‘ – an innovation in confectionary production that will be available for UK consumers from early 2016.
The Birmingham headquartered Katjes Fassin UK beat its competitors in the race to perfect the technology. It takes the Magic Candy Factory about five minutes to print a sweet weighing between 15 and 20g, whilst competitors‘ prototypes take almost an hour to do the same.
The machine provides customers with a unique experience: they will be able to customise their confectionary with a choice of 20 designs as well as different colours, flavour combinations and finishings that include sweet, glitter or sour. Customers will also be able to print personalised greetings on gummy cards to create unique gifts.
Managing Director of Katjes Fassin UK, Melissa Snover, said: “The benefit of the experience in store for the whole family is that children and adults can learn about the technology of 3D printing and ingredients in food. Other confectioners haven‘t been able to bring anything like this to market, but we‘ve spent many months developing this technology to be fast, educational and fun.”
All Magic Candy Factory products are vegan, gluten free and dairy free. They are made without gelatine and only use natural fruit and vegetable extracts.
The 3D printing technology is based on fused deposition modelling: a special blend of natural ingredients are heated and then extruded to create a variety of complex shapes and unique combinations. The shapes have been developed using 3D modelling software and specially created ‘g-codes‘ which tell the printer where to deposit the materials, and at what speed and frequency.
