Technology Snapshot: Primera Technology, Inc. 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 capable of printing on taller items including doughnuts, jumbo marshmallows, bars, bagels, and mini cakes up to 2.0” tall using its new Platform Kit Accessory. 

Using the included carousel, the machine prints a dozen 3.5” (89mm) cookies or other similar-sized items in just two minutes. The carousel rotates the cookies to the print position, then the tongue pulls in cookies one at a time, prints and sends them back to the carousel—all automatically and hands-free. To print on taller confections such as doughnuts, remove the carousel, install the Platform Kit Accessory, and then manually feed each food item onto the platform.

Printed cookies or other food items will be dry and ready for sale after printing. Printed images are bright, vibrant, smudge-resistant, and even color-matched to ICC Color Standards.

Using the included carousel, Eddie holds up to 12 items from 2.5" (63.5 mm) to 4.375" (110mm) in diameter with a maximum thickness of 0.75". To print items up to 2.0" (50.8mm) high and up to 4.5” wide, the Eddie Platform Kit is required

Eddie is used by bakers and pastry chefs across the world in hotels, bakeries, amusement parks, and cottage businesses. Eddie speeds up the decoration process allowing bakers to print over 300 cookies per hour for custom logo orders, weddings, and more.

Some examples include:

• 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

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.

Eddie is unique in the commercial food preparation business for many reasons, but none as important as 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 and recognized worldwide by consumers, manufacturers, retailers, and regulatory agencies.

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, The Edible Ink Printer sells for $2,995.00 and the Platform Kit sells for $79.99. Both are available now direct from Primera and from Primera’s Authorized Resellers and Distributors throughout the world. In the U.S., factory-direct orders can be placed here.