Hidden away a few hundred meters from Acireale’s Duomo, in this small town near Catania, in Sicily, a new ice cream and cocktail bar just opened, offering some of the most creative hand-made ice cream flavors that you can imagine. From Campari grapefruit to ricotta and black vanilla (just to start), the Riso Paradiso bar wants to deliver a unique sensory experience leveraging Sicily’s unique tradition in ice-cream making. These innovative flavors, however, are not the only reason why Riso Paradiso stands out. What makes the bar truly unique and different from any other ice cream parlor anywhere in the world is that just about everything in its interior and exterior decor is 3D printed, making it the first almost entirely 3D printed ice-cream bar.

Every hanging light shade, every library, every stool, every table, every decorative item is 3D printed. And what makes it even more interesting is that one of the Riso Paradiso founders assured us that this is not just for marketing: it all makes sense from a purely economic point of view as well. The founders also plan on selling copies of the unique 3D printed furniture designs, which can be rapidly replicated via the technology used to produce them.

One reason why that may be so is that LFAM technologies are now widely available. In this case, Caracol, a rapidly growing startup that developed a proprietary LFAM robotic extrusion technology, provided the additive manufacturing capabilities to build all the 3D printed ice-cream bar furniture.

Caracol’s robotic 3D printing facility in Como, near Milan, in Northern Italy leverages multiple multi-axis robotic extrusion systems and proprietary software platforms to overcome the limits of traditional 3D printing, offering customized advanced design-to-production solutions for different sectors, from aerospace to maritime. The company’s goal is to redesign the current production system, towards a more efficient, progressive, and sustainable future, through more sensible use of technology and respect for available resources.

While Caracol works most with industrial companies in aerospace, energy, and other segments, its technology now makes sense even for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Another reason for this could be found in the much more affordable price of materials for LFAM extrusion such as Caracol’s, especially when used in the form of standard granulates. The particularity is that the materials used for the Riso Paradiso interior design are a mix of biodegradable PLA and other recycled plastics.

The third, but perhaps the first, reason why it made sense to 3D print the entire bar is that the design was done by local designer Federica Cristaudo, as part of the project Mastri Gelatai (Ice Cream Masters). By combining the ideas of the owners, with the creative design by Federica, the versatility of Caracol’s technology and the talent of the local Ice Cream master Franco Patanè, Riso Paradiso offers a truly unique experience, mixing tradition and innovation unlike anything else anywhere in the world.

And the ice-cream does help.