Accept no substitutes!

I’m a pretty creative cook and I’ve managed to doctor up quite a few recipes either to make them healthier or because I didn’t have one of the ingredients. I often?substitute applesauce or mashed bananas for at least half the oil in cookies and cakes, make skinny hollandaise sauce with Greek yogurt, turn milk into “buttermilk” by adding fresh lemon juice, and I’ve even substituted tofu for eggs in recipes for vegan friends. If you don’t have baking powder, a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar will provide the same, necessary, chemical reaction.

But what works in my kitchen on a limited scale may not work on an industrial scale and may have negative cost impacts. For example, using apple sauce instead of vegetable oil could reduce the cost of a recipe but using mashed bananas would increase it substantially. Now imagine what would happen if industrial kitchens were no longer allowed to use any type of vegetable oil. First panic, mayhem and a lot of very dry baked goods. Then the price for viable substitutes will jump and scarcity will likely follow. Fun times!

That is the (not imminent) potential for the printing industry if proposed regulation of carbon black moves forward next year. Carbon black is as fundamental to printing as flour is to baking and it has even fewer viable substitutes. Terry Clayton PhD has been educating us about carbon black and how it is produced and used. He wraps up the series with a?discussion of potential substitutes?and the many related challenges. Sadlly, applesauce is not one of the options.

In other news, Koenig & Bauer is planning some cool, new inkjet metal printing solutions for release in 2025 including single pass and multi-pass models. Nessan Cleary provides a?sneak peek and information on the U.S. beta site?to get the first model.?

Even in more run-of-the-mill applications like customer communications and direct mail, sometimes the status quo just doesn’t provide the competitive advantage an operation needs. That’s why inkjet integration is alive and well in these markets. Integrators substitute ingredients and tailor the inkjet recipe for each customer. Lois Ritarossi talked to quite a few of these companies?at the recent National Postal Forum. ?

If you’re looking for the latest inkjet information, accept no substitutes! We shall not be replaced by mashed bananas.

Elizabeth

P.S. Also found out you can?make diamonds?out of the carbon in cremated human remains. Hope that’s not how we end up making carbon black more sustainable!?#cremains #icky