Industry Description
Though
the details of food 3D printing are still sketchy, and this kind of technology
is only just beginning, but with its great potential to create personally-tailored
dishes for eaters, both in terms of nutrients and taste, we could sat for
certain that it must have a wonderful future in the coming years.
Definition of 3D Printing of Food.
By combining and merging all the many different
disciplines it has at its disposal, offer uniquely innovative, sustainable
solutions such as food printing that make use of this multidisciplinary
approach, combining knowledge of mechatronics, 3D industrial printing and
specific food knowledge in the areas of ingredients, formula, texture and
structure. (TNO innovation for life)
Why food printing
Food printing offers a range of potential
benefits:
l This machine can help to convert alternative ingredients not only
healthy but also environmental friendly.
l A food printer help you meet your individual needs for food.
l The printer can also make sure that your personal meal is made at
exactly the time you want.
l Printing food ensures your personal meal’s enormous freedom of design
in terms of not only the shape but also the composition.
Global Opportunities
There
are many opportunities for 3D printing on food industry, like low-cost tools
for organic farmers in the developing world, home manufacturing and food
production combined to create 3D printable mini-farm and supermarket chain
experimenting with food 3D printing pilot.
As
an example, I would like to introduce a machine for you to help you have a
better understanding what is going on about 3D printing on food industry.
The
“Foodini” is an automated meal-assembly machine that creates homemade meals
faster and more efficiently than human hands- is the first product by Natural
Machines, Kucsma’s company.
In
reality, the Foodini isn’t a 3D printer, per se. 3D printers generally run at
one speed and handle a single ingredient: plastic. The Foodini is programmed
similarly, but offers multiple speeds and works with numerous ingredients at
the same time. The box-shaped contraption is approximately 17 inches wide, 18
inches high and clocks in at 33 pounds.
This
machine could bring us a lot of fun and help us to solve some problem at the
same time, for example, improve the eating condition for senior citizens, as we
all known, for elderly people, most of them have the problems with chewing or
swallowing food, they are often eat foods in puree form, you can imagine how
bad their food look like. Those blobs of puree that they get on a plate
actually don’t look very appetizing and as a result these people which already
have problems eating don’t eat too much because it doesn’t look very
attractive, in the long term, they may become weaker, and look increasingly
frail. But by using 3D printing food machine may help to improve this
situation, like make the food still softer, but hold their shape due to a
gelling agent.
Some
people may say that this kind of machine isn’t quite practical in the most
place, for personally-tailored dishes, it is only make sense for the chief not
for all the people. But there is one place that could take full advantage of
this machine, and make a huge difference compared with the old days: in space. Actually,
Michelle Terfansky, a postgraduate student in the University of Southern
California recently explored this concept. Terfansky noticed that astronauts on
the International Space Station already get bored with the regular weekly meal
rotations; similar cabin fever may happened to travelers to Mars in the future.
So Terfansky come out an idea with 3D printers, 3D printers could allow for a
wide variety of dishes without having to stockpile pieces of animal carcasses
and heaps of vegetables. But the taste of the food that made by 3D printer it
is not very pleasant, due to this reason how to improve its taste will be the
most difficult barrier to be overcome.
Business model
As I mentioned before, this kind of
technology: 3D printing could bring us a lot of opportunities, but as we known
that using high-tech things always restricted by very serious laws. The legal
environment may not very friendly to 3D printer companies. So far, the demand
of customer may not high due to its expensive price. But as time goes by, the
technological change get more and more fast than before, many imperfections
could be fixed up on one day, price of the machine would go down as well.
Sellers may directly sell its products: 3D
printers to customers and offer raw materials to its customers for making food.
And because the standard of raw materials is strict, supplier must provide a
detailed description to customers as well. 
I believe that 3D printing on food industry
would have a huge success in the near future, indeed improve our living
condition, and help us live in a better world.
References
MICHAEL MOLITCH-HOU ON FRI, APRIL 24, 2015 3D
printing. Retrieved on 4 May 2015 from
Will 3D Printers Manufacture Your Meals?
Retrieved on 4 May 2015 from http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a8816/will-3d-printers-manufacture-your-meals-15265101/
5 amazing ways 3-D-printed food will change
the way we eat by Matt McFarland January 28 2015. Retrieved on 3 May 2015 from
TNO, innovation for life, 3D printing of
food. Retrieved on 3 May 2015 from
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