FAQ

Have questions? We may already have the answers here in our FAQs. Also take a look at our Insights: short (fast to read!) articles to help get an understanding of what we do. Have more questions? Contact us and let us know.

Advantage Program

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What kind of support is offered?

Free 24x7 access to our online support page, inclusive of seeking help directly from our support specialists. Additional support packages available if needed. Every customer has a dedicated customer portal where you can manage your services and check your billing.

Are damages covered?

Normal wear and tear is covered, as are device faults. We take care of any repairs needed.

Can I later buy Foodini after using it for a while?

No. However, being in the Advantage Program has many advantages: upgrades, fixes, and it’s a green solution.

Who is responsible for the shipping?

We will handle the shipping details with reputable vendors. No need for you to deal with the hassle of organizing shipping. Note that shipping charges may occur, and will always be stated prior to charges being incurred.

Are there any discounts based on volume?

No. We provide discounts based on the length of time you commit to, but not on volume.

If after using Foodini for a while some parts are damaged, do you repair them or replace the device?

Yes. It depends what exactly is needed to determine what needs to be done: repair or replace. We handle this on a case-by-case basis.

If there is a new version of Foodini, is it possible to change to the new one?

Yes. We can either upgrade your device, or swap it out. We handle this on a case-by-case basis.

Do I need to keep the original packaging?

Ideally, it’s best if you keep the original packaging as it’s designed to best protect Foodini when shipping. Alternatively, you can use other packaging that is of suitable size and support, and provides protection to ensure the unit is not damaged during transportation.

Is the Advantage Program available globally?

At the moment, no. The Advantage Program is available for customers in the United States, European Union, and China. If you are outside of this area, you can purchase Foodini.

What happens at the end of my subscription term?

You can do one of two things: 1) Continue your subscription, with the option to switch to a different monthly or yearly plan. 2) Return Foodini. We'll arrange shipping details with you. We'll check to make sure everything is OK with the returned Foodini, and then we'll refund your deposit.

Must I pay on a monthly basis, or can I arrange other payment terms? For example, can I pay every 6 months? Or pay the total obligation amount upfront?

We can be flexible on the payment terms that work best for you. Reach out to us to let us know your preference.

MACHINE

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Who is your target audience?

Our focus is B2B (Business to Business), or B2B2C: that is, we sell to businesses that then sell to consumers. We do not currently focus on consumers (also known as a B2C, or Business to Consumers).

What is the cleaning process? Is it difficult to clean?

Foodini is designed so that the most of the moving parts are hidden. This not only gives the look of a clean, sleek looking kitchen appliance, but it also makes sure the food goes where we want it to in the machine... that is, in the capsules and on the print surface. If food does get on the walls of the inside of the machine, it's very easy to just wipe it down with a damp cloth or sponge. The capsules and glass plate can be put in the dishwasher or hand-washed, and the capsules are designed to come apart in certain sections for easy cleaning. For example, the nozzle comes apart from the capsule body. We don't like kitchen appliances that are hard to clean, and we're sure you don't either.

Are the capsules re-usable? What are they made of? Are they easy to clean?

Foodini ships with empty capsules that are re-usable. We make them out of stainless steel, so the capsules will not retain food scent or flavor. The nozzle comes apart from the capsule, making it very easy to clean either in a dishwasher or by hand.

What is the difference between Foodini and the other 3D food printers? What modifications or innovations does it have as a machine? What makes Foodini unique?

Foodini is the first food 3D printer that prints a wide range of foods, both savory and sweet. It uses real food. Fresh food. From the day we started Foodini, we built it to be a food appliance. Meaning, it's made from food-grade/safe materials, and it is CE and FCC certified - in order to meet standards for health, safety, and environmental protection. Many other food printers focus on a small amount of printable ingredients... printers focused on chocolate only or sugar only, for example. With our open capsule model, you aren't limited to the number of ingredients you can print. This allows us to accommodate for a wide range of tastes. And with room for up to 5 food capsules, you don’t have to manually change out the food capsules for different ingredients when printing. Also unique is the physical design of the product. The machine is sleek, and most of the technical moving parts are cleverly hidden from view. People will be proud to have Foodini on a kitchen counter, both from the physical design as well as the functionality. This is very different than most 3D printers on the market - those that print food and those that don't!

How many capsules fit into Foodini at one time? How many capsules can I use to print at the same time?

Foodini has room to fit up to 5 food capsules that automatically exchange as needed. One capsule at a time is used for printing. Each capsule has it's own nozzle; Foodini does not use the same nozzle for capsules that are automatically exchanged.

Is it safe to eat printed food from Foodini?

Yes. It's important to know why we made Foodini: We saw an issue with food in the food industry, and 3D food printing was the best way to solve that problem. What we did NOT do: take a standard 3D printer, and try to do something new and "cool" with it, like print food. Our reasons for building Foodini results in a big difference in how we built Foodini versus other 3D food printers. We use food-grade safe materials and parts to build Foodini, inclusive of the stainless steel food capsules. Foodini is also CE and FCC certified - in order to meet standards for health, safety, and environmental protection. Foodini was designed from day 1 to work with food. As such, printed food from Foodini is indeed safe to eat.

Could you explain in simple steps how Foodini works?

Foodini is a connected device, meaning it's connected to the Internet. It has a built in touch screen on the front that provides the controls for operating Foodini. Once you choose the recipe to print (from the onboard touchscreen, or from a tablet, laptop, etc.), Foodini will instruct what food to put in each capsule, and then printing can begin.

Is software included with the purchase of a Foodini?

Yes, Foodini comes with Foodini Creator software. You will also get free updates to Foodini Creator, similar to how you get free updates to your phone OS.

Does Foodini cook?

Foodini does not cook, but it can heat the ingredients. It can heat the food capsules either while in the capsule bay and/or while printing, which is good for keeping chocolate at a good melting/print temperature or printing warm mashed potatoes, for example. As another example, if you were printing raw beef or raw cookie dough, after printing you would have to cook the print as you would with that type of food normally: either in an oven or some other way.
We are working on a cooking version, but as of now that's not available. We're not yet announcing when the cooking version will be ready. Building a new kitchen appliance like this is complex and thus it's difficult to say when exactly it will be ready... until it's ready. When it's ready, we'll be sure to let you know. To people that are buying the current version of Foodini: We promise we will not just suddenly release cooking version without letting you know in advance. No one likes to buy a product, and then shortly thereafter the next version/ latest-and-greatest model is released. We don't like when that happens to us, so we will not do that to you.

Do I need to know how to use a 3D printer (like one that prints plastic) to use Foodini? Do I have to upload files to print?

At the end of the day, Foodini is a kitchen appliance. We've built it to be easy to use, and you do not need any experience with 3D printers (food printers, plastic printers or any other!) in order to use Foodini. As Foodini comes with our software, Foodini Creator, to help you design your own prints, you do not need to upload files. However, you can upload files like JPEGs and other image formats. And if you do know about 3D printing and want to use STL files for 3D models, you can upload those as well. (Don't know what STL files are? You don't need to in order to use Foodini!)

TIMINGS, PRICE, AVAILABILITY

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How long will Foodini last? What is the average lifetime of the printer?

Foodini has an industry standard warranty of 1 year for professionals and 2 years for home users. However, we are building Foodini as a high quality kitchen appliance, and it has been designed to last much longer.

Is the product, Foodini, in demand?

Yes! We have customers worldwide.

How long does it take to print something? What is the print speed?

Foodini does not have one print speed. Rather, speed is optimized based on the ingredient, the nozzle size and the print design.

Speaking of timings, how old is Natural Machines?

We started in November 2012.

INGREDIENTS & RECIPES

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What kinds of foods can Foodini print?

As Foodini ships with empty food capsules, the amount of ingredients that can be printed is unlimited.

I want to make my own ingredients for Foodini. How do I prepare the ingredients?

You can prepare the ingredients by hand, or with the help of a hand-held blender, a countertop blender, a food processor, or other similar device. All ingredients can be prepared by hand, but machines (food processors, etc.) could make the process faster and easier, depending on the ingredient. Note that Foodini is not a food processor and will not prepare your ingredients for you. You'll need to prepare ingredients outside of Foodini. Also know that it is not mandatory to print only with a paste consistency. With our nozzles available in several different sizes, you can print things like whole couscous, or burgers with chunks of cranberries and walnuts, etc. As long as the food fits thru the nozzle you are using, in general, you can print it.

Do customers cook the ingredients first and then put them in Foodini? Can you eat the food directly after printing or does it need some more preparation before eating?

It depends on the recipe you are printing. For example, if you are printing chocolate, it is edible at any stage of the process (you can safely eat the chocolate before and after printing.) Other ingredients can be printed raw. For example, a meat-based hamburger can be printed using raw ingredients, and cooked after printing.

How does the food taste?

The important thing to know with Foodini is that it uses fresh, real food. The user prepares fresh food to go in the capsules to print; it's not processed food. So, it's up to the user how the food will taste: fresh food in, fresh food out. We’ve had several film crews come in and take Foodini printed food to the streets for taste testing. There were no negative reactions from people who taste our food! The only negative reactions were from people that didn't make it over the mental hump to even try 3D printed food. But once people tasted our 3D printed food, all reservations about 3D printed food disappeared after the first bite.

OVERALL CONCEPT

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How does 3D printed food differ from regular food? I don’t think I would ever eat anything 3D printed...

If you eat anything from a food manufacturer, like packaged food you buy in a supermarket, then you practically are already eating 3D printed food: a food manufacturer takes food, pushes it through machines, shapes it, forms it... we’ve taken that same concept and shrunk the large food manufacturing facility down to a stylish kitchen appliance that sits on your kitchen counter. But the big difference is with our open/empty food capsule system, we allow you to use your own fresh ingredients to print. This is real food, 3D printed.

How does Foodini and 3D food printing contribute to lessening food waste?

3D food printing with Foodini can reduce food waste throughout the food value chain: from the customization of portion sizes allowing people to print what they want to eat and nothing more, to recovering food that is traditionally classified as food waste - such as “ugly” fruits, vegetables, and cuts of meat - and printing these foods making them an attractive and nutritious food source.

Are you going to eliminate the need for people to have basic cooking skills? I don't like that...

Quite the opposite, as we print using fresh, real food. Printing with Foodini does encourage people to acquire and keep using cooking skills. We encourage people to buy less processed, packaged, pre-made foods, and get back in the kitchen and make foods from scratch. People can prepare their own ingredients to print. You'll gain a lot more cooking skills making your own food to print, versus ripping open a package of something already made. As an example, if you want to make spinach quiche in the shape of dinosaurs, you can prepare your dough and spinach filling before printing. This is encouraging people to cook!

When making many foods, the creation of those foods is almost an art form in itself. Is there a risk that the use of Foodini could be a barrier to a chef’s artistry?

No, if anything Foodini is another tool for a chef to create something artistic.

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