VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is developing manufacturing technologies that combine materials science with 3D printing to deliver customizable foods.

Today's consumers increasingly expect healthy, nutritious snack foods with added elements such as design and even playfulness. In addition to these qualities, 3D printing has the potential to enable customization of food products that could be delivered via high-tech vending machines.

Vending machines could one day offer custom 3D-printed snacks. Image credit: Pixabay. In initial trials, VTT has tested starch and cellulose-based materials for 3D food prototypes. It is also working on printability of protein concentrates of both plant (oat and faba bean) and dairy (whey protein) origin.

Texture is an important driver of the taste perception of many food products and is behind many successful innovations, including crispy inclusions, soft centers and extra-crunchy toppings. According to VTT, 3D printing technology will enable the layer-by-layer manufacture of various concoctions, from crispy to soft, that produce a distinctive "mouthfeel."

"A great deal of work is needed in order to proceed to industrial-scale production," cautions Nesli Sözer, VTT principal scientist. "Equipment needs to be developed in addition to materials. Such equipment could be developed for domestic 3D food printing as well as vending machines."

Separately, with funding by the Finnish research funding agency Tekes, VTT and Aalto University are coordinating a project to develop 3D printing of multi-textural food structures in an economically feasible and sustainable way. Specifically, the partners are working to create new ingredient mixes with suitable flow properties for 3D processing.