Chocolates are part of any happy occasion or celebration. Manufacturing it on a large scale needs a lot of investments-space, machinery, and money.

But now, Evan Weinstein from Philadelphia has come up with Cocoa Press. It is a 3D printer for making chocolates. The young founder of this startup does not himself have a sweet tooth.

But he has managed to still make this concept for those who adore and love chocolates.

Cocoa Press-how it came into being?

Evan Weinstein was into 3D printing technologies. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. During his high school days, he was at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

He started developing this technology and put the progress on his blog. But during his university days, he could not have time for it.

But he picked it up again during his senior university days. And his project was a success. He got a few grants from the university and some funding from Pennovation Accelerator. And now his company is ready to have pre-orders. The cost of the machine is $ 5500.

Evan and his association with Hershey’s

Pennsylvania’s famous chocolate maker, Hershey’s had also tried its hands at making a 3D printer for chocolates a few years back.

It had held demonstrations at several places and events. But though they had positive reviews from prospective customers, there were some feasibility issues. Evan said:

“They never ended up creating a sellable printer,”

“I’ve been able to connect with Hershey because they’re the main sponsors of the Pennovation Center… [they said] the limitations at the time were technical limitations, but the customer feedback that they got was really positive.”

Also, read Chocolates are not only for guilty indulgence! They also have health benefits!

That implies that now he is the only chocolate printing company in the USA. The first chocolate bar was created in 1847 by British chocolatier J.S. Fry and Sons.

But it took another three decades for the bars to become famous. But since its inception and fame, the form of the bars has not changed much. But Evan’s technology promises to change this.

Evan looking for a sale of the new technology

Evan said:

“We don’t want to be competing with the thousands of chocolate shops already out there,”

“We just want to get the chocolate printer out into the world. The business model is the machines plus the consumables for people who don’t have a background in chocolate.”

The customers can buy the machine and the chocolates from the company and then make their own. He may even talk to some bean-to-bar manufacturers to distribute some of their makes of single-origin chocolates.

Normally shops and factories have to spend $57,000 on the equipment. But now the cost is drastically low at $5,500. Hence it is a bargain purchase. The pre-orders start on 10 October 2020 and the shipping will be done by the middle of next year. Evan said:

“I’m really excited about working with these small shops because they make some interesting stuff. There’s a cinnamon cumin flavor… it’s just wonderful.”