On July, 25 of this year Food Ink opened its doors at Dray Walk in Shoreditch, London for the very first time, thanks to its founders Antony Dobrzensky and Marcio Barradas. Food Ink occupies a strong market niche by putting to work the most innovative technologies, like 3D-printing and augmented reality, in order to present the most exquisite interactive edible experience. At the restaurant not only the food, but all furniture (tables, chairs and lamps), utensils and decorations are the product of 3D printing. The restaurant operates utilising talent from various, international areas of: Architecture, Arts, Cuisine, Design, Engineering, Futuristic, Innovation and Technology. Their mission is to be revolutionary and offer an opportunity where one can “taste the future today”. Food Ink’s founding partner “byFlow” is the inventor of the world’s very first “portable multi-material 3d-printer”. These easily exchangeable printer-heads make it possible to print with over 20 different materials and are 64% faster than the average 3D printer meaning you may start printing within 5 minutes. Wall-to-wall visual projections of 3D-printing in combination with AI-composed music provide an immersive environment and a thrilling glimpse of the future. However, the price to pay, to be able to enjoy this unique 9 course meal journey is £250 a head.
Already since the 1980ies, has 3D printing, where a physical object is ‘printed’ from a 3D digital model, been under development. This technology has been rapidly evolving over the last 10 years. Digitally printed food is “the new frontier”. Today, 3D printers are capable of for instance, producing colourful types and designs of candy. Recently, 3D printing has also been introduced into grocery store culinary circles to masterfully print out “designed desserts”. Evidently, 3D technology is continuing to develop and in the future may transform the food industry immensely. By definition, innovation involves disruption. 3D printed food is merging the “demography” and also “culture of convenience”. From fast moving Millennials, to Boomers who search for a hassle-free lifestyle, 3D food printing may not merely change how we eat, but how we purchase what we eat.
Moreover, traditional grocery stores may also feel the change resulting from 3D printed food. In a world of special diets such as: gluten-free and lactose-intolerance, 3D printing may revolutionise the lives of people affected by such constraints. Customised and prepared foods through highly capable printing services at grocery stores may become the new normal. Until everyone has a 3D printer at home, grocers might collect customer’s personal dietary and nutritional information via custom web-portals or customer’s wearables (insulin pumps for diabetics etc.). Imagine recipes informed and personalised through these devices. Amazing, right?
However, in the case of Food Ink, critics have raised the question why anyone would want to pay £250 for food pastes and plastic cutlery. Visitors at Food Ink experience a 9 course meal, produced via live 3D-printing. Yet, details regarding the ingredients of the menu are strictly confidential. Moreover, the 3D-printer used by Food Ink can only process materials as pastes. Sasha Mather (Communications Director of Food Ink) has said: “Meat is tricky to print for sanitary concerns and in terms of generating a genuine texture or ‘mouth feel’.” This limits the types of meals that can be printed, which might be a reason why the founders of Food Ink brought in professionals of the molecular cuisine: Joel Castanye and Mateu Blanch, the former chefs of the famous restaurant “elBulli”.
Personally, I would never pay £250 for a 9 course meal, including limited types of food that can be printed. Even though, the whole experience of being at the restaurant does sound intriguing, I do think there are better and more appropriate uses of 3D printed food. For instance, in space, 3D printing has been used to transform astronaut’s diets. Being able to print food in a way that it exactly contains certain amounts of particular nutrients may also serve as an extremely favourable innovation for people with special dietary needs and/or allergies.
What do you think?
References:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3685998/Is-future-fine-dining-Restaurant-food-table-3D-printed-cost-250-head.html
http://www.archdaily.com/790985/food-in-is-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-restaurant
https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/food-inks-london-launch-futuristic-frenzy-90048/
http://bigthink.com/disruptive-demographics/from-printer-to-plate-how-might-3d-food-printing-transform-the-grocery-store
http://www.3dbyflow.com/
Dear Anna,
Thank you for sharing this post about Food Inc. I think it is very cool initiative that can be a great boost for 3D printing technology and I am definately tempted to try printed food. However, I personally do not like the foresight of a world in which one can only buy and eat printed food, especially when everything is in the form of a paste. There are some questions that immediately came to mind when I read your article. Do you think that the future will bring us solid printed food? Do printed foods contain all the nutrients that naturally grown foods possess? And do they taste as good (apart from the structure)? Will printed food eliminate all farmers from the food industry and will “real” and “natural” food become a luxury good? Besides these questions and concerns, I do agree with you that there are possibilities for, among others, astronauts and people with allergies, but I doubt whether the printed food is better than for example the dried foods that astronauts have now a days, which already possess all the essential nutrients.
A very, very interesting post! I have heard of building weapons with 3D printers but printing food was news to me. Personally, I think this idea is really disturbing I mean vegetables, fruit, meat already have a shape and form. Why would you want them “remodeled” from some sort of printing paste as organic as it may be? I completely understand the fascination with molecular cooking, it is at least an interesting process to follow, but printing food does not even seem to be that interesting to look at (visually). I also understand that firms try everything once they uncovered a new procedure and I even agree with the proposal that for highly specialized this kind of compressed food makes sense. However, I dont think or at least do not hope that 3D printed food becomes the newest solution to feed the “convenience generation”. If ever , 3D printing food in regular households is probably a decade away but Im also wondering: Do we need that much convenience; is it really SO much of a hassle to cook? Overlall, if this firm eventually manages to do something good with their technology like feed the undernourished on a large scal since they can combine the necessary nutrients etc just as needed: I am all in. But right now, I dont see the market (demand) for it, like you indicated, the meals are quite expensive still.