Recently The Hershey Company (maker of delicious chocolates), have announced a partnership with 3D Systems (they build printers capable of creating objects out of foods, even chocolate!). While this seems like something out of a fictional story it might actually be not just a reality but also a revolutionary partnership in the food industry!

The partnering company 3D Systems demonstrated their printers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January. The printer the company exhibited generates products using not online chocolate but also sugar infused candy with a selection of flavours! They are created by first spreading a layer of flavoured sugar then painting wawter on top using a jet printer that transforms the substance into hardened candies.

This may not be something available this year, but this time next year we may be talking about where we will order our customized candies from, designed personally and uniquely by ourselves!

This isn’t just going to be limited to chocolate, pasta manufacturer Barilla, which plans to introduce 3D food printers in restaurants, provides customers the ability to select pasta off the menu or customize it to be a certain shape, size and, I guess, even color. Barilla is working on a supply chain process that enables delivery of dough cartridges to restaurants where they could be loaded into 3D printers, just like an ink cartridge. Talk about customizing your order! And I thought alphabet spaghetti was clever!

If you thought this was enough progression you were wrong, even NASA is in on the act and awarded a Small Business Innovation Research contract to Systems and Materials Research Consultancy of Austin, Texas to study the feasibility of using 3D printing, for making food in space. I suppose that if I had to spend three months on the International Space Station there would be a point when I could not face any more freeze dried dinners and would kill my fellow astronaut for a slice of printed pizza.

Soon it won't be just what you want from the menu: it will be what do you want to create tonight, all served on a 3D plate and eaten with a 3D knife and fork. All that’s missing is the 3D wine.