3D-printed vitamins — how the Nourished project personalizes healthy supplements

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Melissa Snover regularly took vitamins carefully tailored to her needs. However, putting together the right combinations was difficult because the vitamins had to be purchased separately. In addition, the packages usually contained different numbers of pills and were sold in different stores.



The inconvenience prompted Snover to start his own company, Nourished, which manufactures customized vitamins. Customers can choose a customized set that will be 3D-printed using a patented method.

The finished product is a sugar-free vegan marmalade, divided into layers for each nutrient and designed for daily intake. Customers receive a three-month supply. In March, Nourished produced and shipped about 15,000 orders.



It is very easy to choose the right combination. To do this, you can take a test on the website. It takes into account the presence of allergies in the client, whether he wears glasses or contact lenses, as well as what jamaica number data diet and lifestyle he adheres to. From the answers, the algorithm generates recommendations for the best combination of seven useful ingredients out of 30 possible. The available options are divided into three categories.

Vitamins (e.g. vitamin C for healthy bones, zinc to strengthen the immune system, and folic acid to maintain red blood cell levels).
Plant-based superfoods (e.g. ginseng and ginger extract).
Useful supplements (Scutell'up - this is what Nourished calls the skullcap plant (Scutellaria), which improves mood, and cordyceps mushroom for muscle recovery).
The Nourished 3D printing factory is located in Birmingham, England. Seven selected nutrients are placed into seven 3D printer cartridges with a completely vegan composition: pectin, fiber, and thickener from apples and lemons. The result is a 10.5 gram marmalade consisting of seven pressed hexagonal layers.



Snover admits that this number was chosen in an unscientific way: when she came up with the idea for the marmalade, she was taking seven vitamins a day. But there is a more scientific justification. In surveys across the UK, the company found that on average people take five to seven different vitamins every day.

In 2015, Snover launched a 3D-printed vitamin-free marmalade and created a patented 3D food printer. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.K. Food Standards Agency. The company, called Magic Candy Factory, created such interesting confections as the Marmalade Eiffel Tower. It used vegan thickeners and Nourished technology in its manufacturing process.