Koh Rui En, Sylvell Neo Yan Ting, Cao Li Ming (back row, from left), Ernest Oo Jun Lin and Esmond Ong Hong Bao (front row, from left) took on the challenge of producing tasty and intricate 3D-printed cookies.

With additive manufacturing looking to be a significant part of the next frontier in food technology, the industry continues to push the boundaries to find innovative food solutions and expand consumer product offerings. Through 3D-printing, food products can be easily customised based on individual’s preferences, and adjusted accordingly to suit taste and texture requirements.

Through extensive research on viable food business opportunities, students from the joint SIT and Massey University Food Technology programme – comprising Koh Rui En, Sylvell Neo Yan Ting, Cao Li Ming, Ernest Oo Jun Lin, and Esmond Ong Hong Bao – identified a huge growth opportunity in the 3D-printed food market in the Asia Pacific region. The team ideated 16 different ready-to-eat (RTE) products before finalising their creation, ‘Peattur Chockies’ – 3D-printed peanut butter chocolate cookies for their group project.

Peattur Chockies created by SITizens of the SIT-Massey University Food Technology programme.

The idea is to sell Peattur Chockies in vending machines, where customers can observe the cookies being printed on the spot, after selecting options to customise sweetness levels, shapes, and sizes. Pre-orders can also be made available through an app, and sold at $3.00 per packet with a net weight of 40g (estimated eight pieces).

“We went through a series of trials to achieve the printability of the cookie formula. Extensive experimental designs were carried out to observe if the cookie dough was able to be extruded through syringes. Some of the technical challenges we faced were mainly due to the extrudability and stickiness of the dough during printing. However, we were able to achieve a printable base formulation that was low in sugar and high in fibre,” shared team member Ernest Oo.

One tasty printout at a time – various lab trials were conducted to get the batter right.

The team managed to modify the process and formulation to overcome the constraint, and developed a product that is unique, innovative, and attractive.

“It was a technically-challenging problem, but the students overcome the challenge of printing the cookie batter through a narrow nozzle. Overall, they did a good job in developing a potentially scalable and marketable product that is appealing and tasty,” said Associate Professor Kelvin Goh, Massey University.

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The annual ‘Food Technology Project Exhibition and Industry Engagement Day’ by SIT and Massey University is a culmination of learning outcomes from final-year Food Technology students. It presents an opportunity for graduating students to pitch their food products and business cases to both faculty and industry partners, applying the knowledge acquired over their four years of studies. These innovative projects include a comprehensive look into the students’ idea generation, prototyping, proposals for scaling up, capital and operating cost estimates, food safety, and risk analyses.

Image credits: SITizens Koh Rui En, Sylvell Neo Yan Ting, Cao Li Ming, Ernest Oo Jun Lin and Esmond Ong Hong Bao