Cocoa Press will ship the Chocolate 3D Printer this Fall for $1499. Pre-Orders Open in April
The best 3D printers can print out plastic in one of two ways: from filament or resin. Cocoa Press is a new printer that uses chocolate to make models you can eat. Cocoa Press was created by Ellie Weinstein (Mader and Battlebots Competitor), who has been developing iterations of her printer since 2014. Pre-orders for Cocoa Press are available via cocoapress.com starting April 17th (Opens in a new tab Cocoa Press is the company’s other name.
Cocoa Press DIY kits will start at $1,499 and are estimated to ship in September while professional packages, which come fully built, will cost $3,995 and ship in early 2024. You will only need to pay $100 deposit when you reserve your printer. The rest of the payment is due at shipping time. The company claims that the kit can be assembled in 10 hours.
The Cocoa Press is 140 x 150x 150x 150mm in build volume. This is small but sufficient for most chocolate creations. This printer heats its chocolate to just 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) instead of plastic filaments which need to be heated between 200 and 250 degrees Celsius. The bed isn’t heated.
Cocoa Press will use 70g cartridges of special chocolate to replace a roll of filament and a tank filled with resin. The company will sell the 10 packs for $49, which is $49 less than a standard FDM printer. The cigar-shaped chocolate pieces go into a metal syringe where the entire thing is melted at the same time rather than melting as it passes through the extruder (like a typical FDM printer).
Weinstein demonstrated how the Cocoa Press works in a video he made with MandicReally.
The Cocoa Press produced a few designs, including a chocolate fish that moves and a chocolate barrel. Weinstein’s Tik Tok channel shows a video showing the printer putting out a vase (opens in a new tab.
The printer is safe as the chocolate touches only four parts. These are easily removed (without tools) then cleaned in a sink. The Cocoa Press is attractive in its orange, black and silver colors. It’s very similar to a Prusa Mini+.
It’s powered with Marlin firmware and an Ultimachine Archim2 32bit processor. This same Marlin firmware is used on all FDM printers. Standard 3D models can be downloaded from websites like Printables or created by you. (opens in a new tab Thingiverse or (Opens in a new tab Then, slice them in PrusaSlicer.
Cocoa Press isn’t the first to release this printer. Weinstein’s company had previously sold version 5 “Chef”, a much larger model that was more expensive at $9,995 in 2020. However, she has stopped making it and now concentrates on the smaller, less expensive model. She informed us that all who purchased the older model would be eligible for a free copy.
You can learn more about Cocoa Press by tuning into the Tom’s hardware Pi Cast, March 14, 2023. Ellie Weinstein joins us for live questions.
An earlier version incorrectly stated in the article that Cocoa Press chocolate cartridges were $49 each. Later, we learned that the cost for 10 packs of Cocoa Press chocolate cartridges will be $49 each.
