3D Chocolate

The University of Exeter has apparently developed a prototype that can print in 3D…using chocolate! It quite simply prints using chocolate instead of ink and builds up the design in layers as the chocolate dries. 

Not surprisingly, several retailers have already expressed an interest in the novel printer. The potential is quite huge if you think about it. To my mind, this sort of unique device would create a great USP for troubled Thorntons, allowing customers to visit the shop and create a personalised image on a computer screen, watching as it becomes created entirely out of chocolate! Temperature might be an issue though on a hot day… 

Sweet Retailing will watch with interest to see just how this technology develops. It certainly goes to show that there is plenty of life left in the much loved chocolate industry!