Houston—Who would have thought that the humble pizza could be an icon of innovation?
BeeHex founder and CEO Anjan Contractor says the ubiquitous pie is the perfect way to illustrate the possibilities of its chief product—a 3D printer that can “cook.”
“It’s strategic; we realize going after all food types is not efficient,” he says. Plus, nearly everyone loves pizza.
The startup, which was founded in Houston, made its debut at last year’s South By Southwest Interactive festival and flirted with an appearance on the entrepreneur-themed TV show “Shark Tank.” (They ultimately decided not to go on.) BeeHex’s roots are in 3D printing technology, borne out of a NASA grant aimed at developing food that could stay fresh for deep space journeys, such as a launch to Mars, which could take as many as five years.
BeeHex is developing a 3D printer for food, specifically pizzas. Instead of plastics or other materials, the cartridges in this printer contain ingredients such as dough, tomato sauce, and cheese. The printer has a user interface for cooks to input preferences—thin crust or deep dish?—and software of the recipe prompts the ingredients to be pushed through extruders which, then, “print” out the pizza. An adjustable pneumatic system pushes the ingredients out of the nozzles. I didn’t get a chance to try BeeHex’s pizzas, but pictures show the pies to have a “knitted” look to them, like yarn knitted into a winter hat. The pies are then taken to an oven and cooked.
Contractor says his target customers are restaurants; he’s not aiming for individual use. Targeting restaurants makes sense because, he says, commercial kitchens, like other labor-intensive industries, are looking to automation as a way to reduce labor costs.
“Also, we observed that personalization is the next big thing,” he says. “Today, a family of four orders the same types of food, but we all have different needs. An older person may need more fiber; younger people can handle more fats.”
3D food printing can allow for food prepared to meet those customized needs, he says. Low-carb crust or reduced-sugar tomato sauce cartridges could be developed to create pizzas that could meet more individualized dietary concerns. Contractor says his plan is to provide both the printer and cartridges to customers.
In June, BeeHex raised just over $100,000 from friends and family to further develop its printer, which is scheduled to be available for lease in September. In the meantime, Contractor says he has a strategic partnership with a pizza company that has invested nearly $1 million into BeeHex in exchange for equity. The startup is now moving its headquarters from Houston to Columbus, OH, where the pizza company has a production facility. “We will develop product with them,” Contractor says.
BeeHex, which has four co-founders and three part-time employees, is among a small but growing group of startups seeking to use 3D
