Willy Wonka, step aside, chocolate printing is getting a major glow-up. Cocoa Press Founder Ellie Rose has been gathering some big-name talent to her tasty startup since its launch in 2023. Cocoa Press created the first consumer 3D printer that extrudes edible chocolate treats without the need for a refrigerated chamber. Last year, Rose acquired Print Kits from Alien3D, formerly known as MakerBox. Print Kits is a subscription service that provides plans, hardware, and samples of filament to 3D print mystery projects.
Recently, she added Matt Stultz as Chief Operating Officer and Caleb Kraft as Box Manager of the Print Kits subscription service. Stultz brings experience from Prusa, MakerBot, and LightBurn. Kraft is the former editor of Make Magazine and a constant presence at Maker Faire events and the DIY community.
This week, Cocoa Press welcomed David Randolph to the team as CEO. Randolph recently stepped down from Printed Solid, the American manufacturing arm of Prusa Research. He brings 10 years of valuable experience from the business side of 3D printing, having scaled Print Solid from a small 3D printing supplier to a filament and printer manufacturer. Printed Solid currently assembles Prusa MK4s and CORE One 3D printers. Under Randolph’s guidance, the company was working toward the coveted “MADE in the USA” designation for the European printers.
Rose will stay on as founder and CTO for both Cocoa Press and Print Kits. She said that hiring Randolph to guide the company will allow her time to focus on new product development. Cocoa Press has been a labor of love for Rose, having started the project as an engineering student and finally taking it full-time in 2019.
This is not the first time Randolph and Rose have worked together. Cocoa Press’s signature colors have been replicated in PETG by Printed Solid and are used to print parts for the Voron-style printer.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Randolph will oversee both companies, with the intention of growing each into mainstream products.
"David has an uncanny ability to take an idea to market that expresses a personal experience for not only the consumers but for the DIY and maker communities at large," said Rose. "As we scale Cocoa Press and expand our ecosystem, David’s experience in domestic manufacturing and customer-first leadership is exactly what we need to bring 3D chocolate printing to kitchens, education and makerspaces everywhere."
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"I’ve spent the last nine years building a foundation for 3D printing in the U.S.," said Randolph. "Cocoa Press and Print Kits represent the next evolution of that journey, taking the 'joy of making' and applying it to entirely new mediums. I am excited to work with this talented team to streamline our operations and show the world that whether it's plastic or chocolate, the future is printed."
The Cocoa Press currently retails for $1,499 as a DIY kit. It can print nearly any chocolate loaded into a heated chamber, though it's recommended to use specially prepared “cocoa cores” of milk, white, or dark chocolate, which sell at $49 each. In our review, we gave it 4.5 stars for its ingenuity and awarded it an Editor's Choice for being one of the best 3D printers produced that year.
Denise Bertacchi is a Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering 3D printing. Denise has been crafting with PCs since she discovered Print Shop had clip art on her Apple IIe. She loves reviewing 3D printers because she can mix all her passions: printing, photography, and writing.
I believe that this 3D-printer prints compound chocolate, which is made from a combination of cacao and vegetable fat that is not cacao fat.
Regular chocolate has to be carefully tempered to crystallise into solid chocolate when it cools, and that is difficult to achieve with a hot print-head.
If you want a shape of hard chocolate, it would be better to print the shape in a regular printer, cast a mould of it in food-grade silicone and then pour tempered liquid chocolate into that.
I believe that this 3D-printer prints compound chocolate, which is made from a combination of cacao and vegetable fat that is not cacao fat.
I rather expected they had to fiddle with the composition. Seems rather unavoidable, IMO. That's why it really needs to be cable of printing 3D structures, or else I think it's just another overpriced kitchen gadget.
Findecanor said:
If you want a shape of hard chocolate, it would be better to print the shape in a regular printer, cast a mould of it in food-grade silicone and then pour tempered liquid chocolate into that.
And for the sample image they showed, you could do pretty much exactly that. IMO, if it can't do real 3D printing, it's DoA.
