Food Decoration: The Wafer Revolution in Ice Cream Round

In 2010, Xlogic received its first request for a custom food printer designed to decorate round ice cream wafers, the ones placed on top of the cone as a finishing touch.The client, a distributor with a keen eye on market trends, saw the communicative potential of the product and proposed printing logos and gelato shop names directly onto the edible surface.

The First Wafer Printer: From Countertop to Production Line

Initial production relied on multipass countertop printers, which were slow and unsuitable for automation. Xlogic designed and built the first decoration station with a conveyor belt, where an operator manually loaded the blank wafers and collected the decorated ones at the output. The productivity leap was immediate: production jumped from around 8,000 wafers per day to 8,000 wafers per hour, maintaining print quality and improving accuracy.

From Possibility to Necessity: The Printed Logo as Added Value

Over time, gelato shops discovered that printing their logo on wafers became a low-cost yet high-impact branding tool. By 2015, even wafer and cone manufacturers started to take an interest. Food decoration was no longer a novelty, it had become a business driver:

• It attracts new customers

• It increases profit margins

• It differentiates products in a competitive market

The New Challenges of In-Line Production

As the industry evolved, so did its needs: manufacturers no longer wanted semi-automated decoration, they wanted to print directly in-line, integrating decoration into the production flow.

New challenges emerged:

• Dust and fragments generated by dough processing

• Condensation and humidity caused by temperature shifts

• High temperatures near ovens

Xlogic chose transparency: they informed clients of the initial limitations but proposed continuous collaboration in development.

Engagement, Trust, and Shared Growth

Early customers were directly involved in testing and technical development. Every innovation was field-tested in real production conditions. The result? Clients confirmed that the machine paid for itself in under six months, and reinvested:

• Many who started with one printer went on to purchase a second, third, and fourth printer

• Each season, production increased

• The investment became an integral part of the company’s economic cycle

  
  

A Technology That Wins Markets

Today, the results speak for themselves:

• 90% of Italian wafer producers decorate using Xlogic printers

• Several European manufacturers have adopted the same technology

• All Australian producers—even though there are only two—use Xlogic printers to decorate their wafers

Food Decoration: Printing Value, Not Just Images

Food decoration is no longer just a visual embellishment. Today, it’s a commercial, aesthetic, and functional tool that boosts visibility, brand recognition, and margins.With its proprietary technology and tailored approach, Xlogic has made edible printing a true strategic asset for hundreds of manufacturers around the world.