Hershey Wants to Make Your 3D Chocolate Dreams Come True

Hershey’s headquarters in Pennsylvania offers visitors a chance to indulge in their chocolate dreams in 3D.
3D Systems

There’s nothing like the face of a kid eating a Hershey bar, or so the old jingle goes. But imagine that kid’s face checking out a 3D-printed version of his own face eating a Hershey bar. Whoa, meta!

The cast-in-cocoa possibilities are endless, thanks to the CocoJet 3D printer, a 3D chocolate printer introduced by 3D Systems and The Hershey Company last month at CES. Users can choose dark, milk or white chocolate and then watch as it is liquidly streamed into a preprogrammed design or a shape of their own choosing. Bespoke chocolate cards and customized cake toppers may be only the beginning.

It may take some time for consumers (and chefs and chocolatiers) to get their hands on a CocoJet for home and business use, but in the meantime, they can go to Hershey’s headquarters in Pennsylvania to see their ideas for confection perfection play out. Starting in May, Hershey’s Chocolate World attraction will feature the CocoJet in a permanent 3D chocolate printer exhibit, where people can order chocolate created in their own image, as well other custom shapes, Advertising Age reports. The layer-by-layer process can take mere minutes or as long as an hour, depending on design complexity.

Jeff Mundt, senior marketing manager of technology at Hershey's innovation center, told Ad Age the company is hoping to fine-tune its plans for the CocoJet based on consumer response and creativity. “We don’t have the final objective in our minds. We're working toward that," Mundt said. "The beauty of 3-D printing is that you can make something with this that you could never get out of a mold. [We can] use the technology to create something maybe no one has ever thought of or ever experienced." In chocolate!

Photo courtesy of 3D Systems

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