May We Print Your Dinner Sir?

3D printing has become a popular term and a popular technology in the past few years.

With advanced equipment, materials and greater availability most of the big international brands are showing growing interest in the field.

We are already used to hearing about 3D printing in engineering, in manufacturing and even in medicine, but I was quite surprised to find the founder of Beijing based design firm DeFacto, that specializes in 3D printing technologies, on the speakers list in a panel discussion themed “the future of food”.

What does an architect/engineer have to say to a room full of cooks, restaurateurs and food journalists?

I was even more surprised when I heard the presentation delivered byLeandro Rolon, co-founder of DeFacto and see how serious his team is about reinventing the home kitchen with 3D printing technologies.

I had to hear more, and most of all I had to SEE how it’s done.

So I met Leo at the DeFacto studio in Beijing where I found some very serious equipment ready to print me dinner (in a couple of years…)

If the name DeFacto sounds familiar to you it’s not a coincidence.

The company has presented several impressive designs at the Beijing Design Week and most important, in 2016 set a Guinness world record by creating the largest ever 3D printed structure.

We will get back to this structure later, in context of food.

But first, 3D printing was a big word in 2016, a lot of attention and media coverage.

With all the fuss some terms and facts were mixed up or miss presented and the general public has trouble separating the reality from Sci-Fi movies and understanding the process of 3D printing design and execution.

In our interview, Leo helped us get our facts straight and understand the difference between additive and subtractive manufacturing.

3D printed guns and 3D printed hearts and 3D printed exhibition pavilions are things we can grasp, but 3D printing food was still something harder to accept.

It is also very hard to execute, for one main reason – communication!

A chef will know everything about food ingredients and how to treat them

An engineer will know everything about their machine.

But in order to make 3D printed food happen, engineers and chefs need to work together, and that is not an easy task since they don’t seem to speak the same language.

The techies building the machines are eating cup-noodles in their office and the chefs are staying as far away from computers as they can.

But then something happens that draws the chefs’ attention to the work the techies are doing.

This is when an opportunity to showcase a culinary creation that is eye-catching and unusual presents itself.

The first step the lab and the kitchen made together was in the form of molds.

Pink curved cake, a collaboration with Chef Antione Bunel of Jomi. 

DeFacto’s collaborations with some of Beijing’s top chefs and restaurants resulted in some pretty striking and impressive presentations mostly in cake molds.

Restaurants like Jomi and Galleria serve unique and eye-catching cakes that look like architecture mixed with pastry.

The collaboration with Galleria, a food museum, went much further than cake molds and allowed both partners to explore new fields of 3D printing and food.

The Lion of Saint Mark in sugar, collaboration with Galleria

These food art works are beautiful, and little chocolate cups are cute, but when Leo talks about the future of 3D printed food he is talking about solving the problems of people with health issues and special dietary needs, about customized food items prepared based on our current physical condition and even about world hunger.

The futuristic kitchen will 3D print optimized meals reducing waste and energy consumption.

3D printing is the future of manufacturing not only because it’s clean, fast, economic and local, but mostly because it answers what has already become the key requirement of modern consumers: individually customized!

As a company we want our advertising merchandise to be eye-catching and original, as individuals we want our shoes to fit our feet perfectly and our breakfast to fit our lifestyle.

3D printing will allow customized as well as modular items in the future so that one dress can be worn in different styles and as DeFacto demonstrated during the Beijing Design week.

3D printing is an economic and environmental friendly manufacturing process not only because of the manufacturing process but also because of the materials it can and will use.

This brings us back to DeFacto’s Guinness record structure which was not only made of individual units that can be used in different applications, but was actually made of biodegrading corn starch.

The building blocks used as lampshades

Leo and his team are ready to push the limits of technology and materials to start the 3D printed food revolution.

They are teaming up with more chefs and are experimenting with food ingredients, (destroying some very pricy equipment in the process), but all in the name of science.

Laser carved pear, a collaboration with Chef Aniello Turco

To learn more please visit the website:

www.defactobeijing.com

Follow official wechat account:

defactobeijing

FM Lifestyle is Radio 774's new lifestyle magazine flag show.

Launched in January 2016, FM Lifestyle is an interview based daily show focusing on lifestyle, entertainment, services and creative projects around China.

Hosted by two of our lead hosts, Gail Zohar and Chloe Liu, the show combines traditional and new media platforms as well as social networks. Throughout the year Gail and Chloe will be visiting venues, attending events, meeting with entrepreneurs, innovators, chefs and artists bringing first hand experience reports, sounds and sights to our listeners in China and around the world.