Cocoa Press, the startup behind the first consumer 3D printer for edible chocolate, has appointed David Randolph as Chief Executive Officer. A former Prusa executive joins Cocoa Press after nearly a decade leading Printed Solid, the U.S. manufacturing arm of Prusa Research, bringing extensive experience in scaling 3D-printing manufacturing operations.
Randolph will oversee both Cocoa Press and Print Kits, a subscription-based DIY 3D printing service the company acquired from Alien3D in 2024. The appointment, announced on 9 March 2026 from Philadelphia, signals a shift towards mainstream adoption for the chocolate 3D printer startup.
Randolph’s Prusa Ecosystem Background
David Randolph is recognised within the 3D printing industry for transforming Printed Solid from a boutique filament supplier into a significant U.S. manufacturing operation. Under his leadership, the company became Prusa Research’s exclusive American production partner, expanded into a 100,000-square-foot facility, and launched the Jessie filament line. Printed Solid currently assembles Prusa MK4s and CORE One 3D printers, and under Randolph’s direction was working towards a ‘MADE in the USA’ designation for the European-designed machines.
Before his tenure in 3D printing, Randolph served as a broadcast engineer for Discovery Channel, G4TV, and Google, a background that informed his approach to community-driven brand building at Printed Solid.
Ellie Rose, founder of Cocoa Press, noted the significance of Randolph’s manufacturing credentials:
“David has an uncanny ability to take an idea to market that expresses a personal experience for not only the consumers but for the DIY and maker communities at large. As we scale Cocoa Press and expand our ecosystem, David’s experience in domestic manufacturing and customer-first leadership is exactly what we need to bring 3D chocolate printing to kitchens, education, and makerspaces everywhere.”
— Ellie Rose, Founder, Cocoa Press
A Growing Leadership Team
The Cocoa Press CEO appointment is part of a broader leadership build-out at the company. Recent additions include Matt Stultz as Chief Operating Officer, who brings experience from Prusa, MakerBot, and LightBurn, and Caleb Kraft as Box Manager of the Print Kits subscription service. Kraft is the former editor of Make Magazine and a well-known figure within the maker community.
Rose will remain as founder and Chief Technology Officer for both Cocoa Press and Print Kits, with Randolph’s appointment intended to free her to focus on new product development. Rose started Cocoa Press as an engineering student and took the project full-time in 2019 before launching commercially in 2023.
“I’ve spent the last nine years building a foundation for 3D printing in the U.S. Cocoa Press and Print Kits represent the next evolution of that journey, taking the ‘joy of making’ and applying it to entirely new mediums.”
— David Randolph, CEO, Cocoa Press
Food 3D Printing Market Context
The Cocoa Press chocolate 3D printer operates on a principle similar to Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), extruding heated chocolate through a 0.8mm nozzle and building edible shapes layer by layer. The machine features a build volume of 140mm x 150mm x 150mm, runs on Marlin firmware, and uses proprietary 70g chocolate cores in milk, white, and dark varieties priced at US $49 each. The printer itself retails at US $1,499 as a DIY kit, and the platform is built on open-source software and hardware, a detail likely to resonate with the maker community that Randolph has long served.
Food 3D printing remains a niche but growing segment within the broader additive manufacturing industry. Companies such as Barry Callebaut have already deployed the technology at industrial scale for professional chocolatiers, while Cocoa Press targets the consumer and maker end of the market with applications spanning bakeries, classrooms, and makerspaces. Randolph’s stated priorities include scaling production to meet demand, expanding the Print Kits product line, and developing new partnerships within the education and hobbyist communities.
With a former Prusa executive now leading Cocoa Press, the startup is positioning itself to move chocolate 3D printing from a novelty into a more established category within the consumer 3D printing market. Whether that transition materialises at scale will depend on Randolph’s ability to replicate the manufacturing growth he achieved within the Prusa ecosystem.
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