Abstract
3D printing technology is rapidly transforming supply chains across diverse manufacturing sectors, enabling personalisation of consumer goods ranging from car parts, medical devices, toys, houses, and even clothing. Food production is also included in the breadth of applications of this expanding technology. Increasing consumer awareness about sustainability, including the problem of food waste, as well as growing interest in customised nutrition have led to the emergence of food industry research focused on aspects, such as packaging, portion size, and healthy sustainable ingredients, to satisfy consumer demands. The growing market for personalised food options in particular, requires increased flexibility and agility to tailor ingredients to an individual’s specific requirements. Such specificity is not easily fulfilled using traditional mass production methods; however, the emerging technology of 3D food printing (3DFP) may be one solution. This paper evaluates the opportunities, risks, and challenges associated with 3DFP, with a focus on developing sustainable supply chains for future growth. Drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews with 3DFP industry managers and current literature in the domain, we propose three supply chain models for 3DFP services, as well as an overview of the key business drivers.
Highlights
Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli andFood supply chains (FSCs) are complex, requiring coordination across countries and between continents, to ensure full and timely arrival of products to the end customer [1,2,3,4]
Despite improvements in technology and increased efficiencies in the food industry, loss and waste remain high along food supply chains [26,27]
We saw an opportunity in the food industry and 3D food printing was the best way to solve that problem: we can reduce food waste throughout the food value chain: from the customisation 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
Summary
Food supply chains (FSCs) are complex, requiring coordination across countries and between continents, to ensure full and timely arrival of products to the end customer [1,2,3,4]. León-Bravo et al [11] suggest that sustainability can be driven through food product or supply chain innovation and the fact that one cannot exist without the other In this context, we pose the broad question ‘could 3D food printing (3DFP). There is a lack of information at an operational level both in terms of what is needed to increase the adoption of printed foods, as well as how 3DFP can be used to develop sustainable supply chains. This led to the following research questions: RQ1. Three 3DFP supply chain models are proposed, with a particular focus on increasing sustainability
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