Personalized cookies are easier than ever with the Eddie food-quality ink printer by Primera Technology Inc. This printer can crank out a dozen uniformly-decorated cookies in two minutes, without the hassles and waste from hand decorating tools and supplies. Rather than the standard printed baking wafer sheets that are printed and applied to the finished goods, Eddie prints directly onto the cookie.
Although printers for food embellishment have been around for a decade or more, Eddie is the first NSF and GMP Certified edible ink printing device. The printer is equipped with a rotating tray that holds a dozen three to three-and-a-half inch frosted cookies. As the tray rotates, each cookie is automatically inserted beneath the device where the decoration is printed on. The cookie is then returned to the carousel and the next cookie takes its place.
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Afterwards, the ink dries immediately, so goods can be packaged or sold directly. The smudge-free inks are color-matched to ICC Color Standards. All parts of the machine and inks are certified for food safety with the company reporting, “Eddie was designed from the beginning to meet or exceed all regulatory requirements for the specific purpose as an edible ink digital printer.” As a result, the printer is the first to earn NSF certification, an independent authentication that affirms the product and ingredients meet public health standards.
However, while the printer can certainly be used for home production, it’s primarily marketed to bakeries, restaurants and other mass-production businesses. With a $3,000 price tag, it is intended for B2B marketing, large functions, parties, corporate events, trade shows, weddings and more. The company claims, “Cookies for Eddie typically cost from $0.35 each to $1.50 each. Add $0.08 for ink at 50% coverage, and charge $3.00 to $5.00 per cookie. The profit margins can quickly pay for the machine.”
Moreover, users can create their own cookie and frosting recipes. Or they could streamline the process with Primera’s bulk frosting mix that was developed specifically for optimal results in conjunction with the Eddie printer. Primera also sells pre-frosted sugar cookies for bulk orders.
Images via Primera Technology Inc.
