Will Hershey make a 3-D chocolate printer?

Imagine being able to press a button and create your own chocolate bar. Hershey might be taking steps to make this chocolate fantasy a reality, teaming up with a company that has a 3-D chocolate printer.

Yes, a printer that can print chocolate.

Hershey’s has teamed up with 3D Systems, a company that focuses on designing and manufacturing 3-D printers, for a joint development effort to create and explore opportunities for 3-D printing.

“Whether it’s creating a whole new form of candy or developing a new way to produce it, we embrace new technologies such as 3-D printing,� William Papa, vice president and chief research and development officer at Hershey Co., said in a statement.

A 3-D printer capable of printing chocolate objects called the ChefJet was introduced at the International CES consumer electronics show this month, The Times’ Salvador Rodriguez reported. The printer starts at $5,000 and is expected to hit the market this year.

No word yet on when or whether a Hershey 3-D chocolate printer will be available. We’ve reached out to Hershey’s and 3D Systems for comment.

Now, if we could only 3-D print some s’mores.

Want more chocolate news? Follow me on Twitter: @Jenn_Harris_

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