Evan Weinstein, the founder of the Philadelphia startup Cocoa Press, is not a fan of sweets. The company produces a 3D printer for chocolate. But the young founder is fascinated by 3D printing technology and is looking for a way to promote the development of this technology. Weinstein said: “I discovered chocolate by accident.” The result was Cocoa Press.
Weinstein once said that chocolate printers take advantage of the fact that people are related to food, and this is especially true of chocolate.
According to a report by GrandView Research, the global production value of chocolate in 2019 was US$130.5 billion. Weinstein believes that his printer can help amateurs and chocolate lovers enter this market.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania began to develop this technology, which will be his first business for a high school student at the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, a private school in Northwest Philadelphia.
After recording his progress on his personal blog, Weinstein hung up cocoa nibs at the University of Pennsylvania while studying for an undergraduate degree. But he could never completely get rid of his dependence on chocolate, so he chose the project as a senior and then returned to the chocolate shop. A 2018 video from Weinstein demonstrates how the printer works.
After receiving several grants from the university and some funding from Pennovation Accelerator, Weinstein began serious preparations, and the company is now ready to book its printer for $5,500.
In his commercialization of candy creation, Weinstein followed in the footsteps of some outstanding cocoa powder. Five years ago, Hersheys, Pennsylvania’s most famous chocolate master, tried to use a chocolate 3D printer. The company brought its novel technology to the road and demonstrated its technological feat in multiple demonstrations, but the project melted under the severe challenge of economic reality.
Weinstein has actually spoken to the Hersheys and believes that his product can be a tricky proposition for consumers and businesses.
“They never ended up creating a saleable printer,” Weinstein said. “The reason I was able to contact Hershey was because they were the main sponsor of the Pennovation Center… (they said) the limitations at the time were technical limitations, but the customer feedback they received was really positive.”
The first chocolate bar was made by British chocolate master JS Fry and Sons in 1847 with a paste made of sugar, cocoa butter and chocolate liquor. It was not until 1876 that Daniel Pieter and Henri Nestle introduced milk chocolate to the mass market, and it was not until 1879 that Rudolf Lindt invented the conch machine to mix and aerate the chocolate, that the bar really took off.
Since then, the physical dimensions have not changed much, but according to Weinstein, Cocoa Publishing has promised to change this.
The company purchases chocolate from Guitard Chocolate Company and Callebaut Chocolate, the largest white label chocolate suppliers on the market, and resells chocolate refills to customers to build a recurring revenue model. The company can make its own chocolate or use it.
He said: “We don’t want to compete with thousands of chocolate shops.” “We just want to make chocolate printers into the world. For people without a chocolate background, the business model is machines plus consumables.”
Weinstein believes that Cocoa Publishing will become an all-in-one chocolate shop where customers can purchase printers and chocolates from the company and make them themselves. It even plans to cooperate with some bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers to distribute some of their own single-origin chocolates.
According to Weinstein, a chocolate shop can spend approximately US$57,000 to purchase the necessary equipment, while Cocoa Press can start bargaining at US$5,500.
Weinstein expects to deliver the printer before the middle of next year, and will start pre-orders on October 10.
The young entrepreneur estimates that the global market for 3D printed sweets will reach 1 billion US dollars, but this does not take into account chocolate. For developers, it is very difficult to produce chocolate to produce economical machines.
Although Weinstein may not have started eating sweets, he must have become interested in this industry now. And looking forward to bringing chocolate from small producers to more connoisseurs, who may use his machine to become entrepreneurs.
Weinstein said: “I’m very excited about working with these small shops because they make some interesting things.” “It has a cinnamon and cumin flavor… it’s great.”

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