Technology Snapshot: Primera Technology, Inc., (“Primera”), a manufacturer of specialty color printers, has announced that Eddie, the world’s first-and-only NSF and GMP-certified edible ink printer for printing onto cookies and other food items, is now shipping.

Eddie makes the process of printing onto cookies, candy, white chocolate, biscuits, macarons, and much more, fast and easy. The machine prints a dozen 3.5” (89mm) cookies or other similar-sized items in just two minutes. The included carousel feeder rotates the cookies to the print position, the printer pulls in cookies one at a time, prints and sends them back to the carousel—all automatically and hands-free.

Printed cookies or other food items will be dry and ready for sale immediately after printing. Printed images are bright, vibrant, smudge-resistant and even color-matched to ICC Color Standards. For these reasons and more, Eddie is truly a professional, edible ink printer and highly unique in its category.

Eddie prints on a variety of foods, including onto certain frostings or directly onto cookies, biscuits, and more. Although bakeries may want to develop their own glazes and frostings, for best results, Primera sells a bulk frosting mix that delivers optimal whiteness and print quality. For applications such as amusement or meetings and events, pre-frosted sugar cookies are also available in bulk quantities from Primera.

Out of the box, Eddie is equipped to print items from 3.0” to 3.5” with a maximum thickness of .75”. With the purchase of custom trays, that can be extended to accommodate items from 1.5” (38mm) to 4.5”(114.5mm).

Personalization is all the rage in today’s consumer and B2B markets. Here are just a few ideas of how Eddie can produce new profits in commercial settings from bakeries to amusement parks:

• Print onto cookies and candy for birthday parties, baby showers, bar or bat mitzvahs, for Christmas and holiday gifts, and more.
• Cookies printed with company logos make a huge impact as trade show giveaways, or at meetings, and other special occasions.
• Wedding planners, hotels, and restaurants are excited to offer custom printed items for wedding receptions, anniversaries, and other celebrations.
• Amusement parks and FFCs can use Eddie to print custom images that commemorate their patrons’ time at the facility. Built-in blue and green colored lights turn on during printing and can even blink. Crowds will gather, watching Eddie do his work while the built-in light show complements his performance.

Cookies for Eddie typically cost from $0.35 each to $1.50 each. Add $0.08 for ink at 50 percent coverage, and charge $3.00 to $5.00 per cookie. The profit margins can quickly pay for the machine.

Eddie is unique in the commercial food preparation business for many reasons, but none as important as for safety. Although edible ink printers have been sold and utilized in commercial applications such as photo cakes for more than a decade, none of them have been approved for this use by recognized, third-party certification organizations, making producer liability a serious concern.

Eddie was instead designed from the beginning to meet or exceed all regulatory requirements for the specific purpose as an edible ink digital printer. Approvals are already secured for the U.S.A., Canada, and Europe. More certifications for other global regions are in process.

Additional certification for Eddie by NSF is an industry first: This respected organization has previously approved no other digital printer with edible ink. NSF certification assures Eddie’s owners and customers that the product has been tested and approved by one of the most highly regarded, independent certification organizations in existence today. The NSF mark is valued by consumers, manufacturers, retailers, and regulatory agencies worldwide.

Eddie’s inks meet all FDA standards for use as a food additive. The ink cartridge itself also meets cGMP standards and is third-party, independently certified. Finally, the entire ink manufacturing and cartridge filling processes are FDA-compliant and cGMP certified.

Eddie sells for $2995.00 USD and is available now from Primera’s Authorized Resellers and Distributors throughout the world. In the USA, place an order factory-direct at www.primera.com. Customers that prefer installation, training, and on-site services can purchase through a small group of dedicated food industry equipment resellers that offer these services at an additional charge.