Imagine visiting your favorite ice cream shop, and because they have a promotional deal with Marvel you can order custom printed cups designed with your child’s favorite superheroes. Sound like a dream? 3-D printing might make that reality come sooner than you think. There are already retail operations set up to 3-D print everything. Materials are becoming cheaper too, so the days of a business like Baskin Robbins custom printing everything from spoons to cups might be coming soon.
3D Printing Advances
Frozen yogurt seems like an unlikely candidate for disruption, but we’re already experimenting with 3D printed foods. These foods are made of natural ingredients too, so startups are springing up frequently around the idea that customers will take a bite. Frozen Yogurt might be a good entry point. We are used to the familiar routine of soft serve at a buffet: ice cream cups stacked atop one another, a pull lever dispensing chocolate or vanilla.
Now imagine that concept with any flavor you want, all made of dairy-based ingredients as natural ice cream or frozen yogurt should be. That’s not too hard to swallow.
What’s Next
There aren’t any specific initiatives yet aimed at disrupting the ice, but MIT students have already created 3D printed ice cream. By hacking a 3D printer together with a Cuisinart ice cream maker, the trio of students managed to create a device that can serve ice cream on demand. For fun, it even prints shapes and adds texture.
Would you eat 3D printed froyo?
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