Most folks are excited by the prospect of direct food printing – 3D printing sugars and chocolates with some edible form of Fused Deposition Modeling or Color Jet Printing – but the relationship between food and 3D printing need not be so complicated. There are plenty of 3D printing solutions that can make food as fun as a Martha Stewart project on a hot summer day. MELT Icepops uses some simple 3D printing tools to bring popsicle making into the 21st century.
Remember when you were a kid and you’d fill your ice cube tray with OJ, freeze it, and a few hours later, you’d have some ice cold orange juice pops? Netherlands-based MELT Icepops has updated the frozen OJ pop with some very simple, but very cool 3D printing. The popsicle design firm creates 3D printed molds with which to fill with tasty flavors and freeze into poppy fun popsicles.
You can peruse the company’s various designs on their Facebook page, noting some really sweet designs. The firm has developed some innovative methods for marketing and making their treats, adding colorful sprinkles for more flavor and putting up large popsicle sticks around the country as a form of guerilla marketing. With a bit of funding from Dutch crowdfunding network voordekunst, MELT Icepops is currently working on a method for carving custom popsicles from blocks of ice on demand.
As they’ve already gained popularity in their own country, I wouldn’t be surprised if their fame melted all over the world. Then, maybe we’ll all be able to 3D print their icepop designs for home popsicle making. For now, you’ll just have to satisfy yourself with this video of the MELT Icepops crew on a Dutch tv show. If you understand Dutch, you’ll love it!
