Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held over the past week in Las Vegas, has been that 3D printing is taking big steps to establish a more mainstream public niche. The technology, which has so far been the bread and butter of technology engineering projects and NASA space expeditions, has potential for a wide variety of applications. However, thus far, 3D printers have simply been too expensive to be a viable option on the consumer level.

That could all be set to change in the next couple of years, and a few products displayed at the CES are going to be behind the new movement. The first, a unique 3D printing interface called ChefJetPro, is a new piece of kitchen equipment that layers coatings of sugar on top of one another, then adds water to solidify the layers into parts of elaborate and artful sculptures. One display at the CES featured a veritable tower of sugar, built to support a layered wedding cake. Others showed the printer’s ability to build similarly complex structures out of chocolate. All of them were unique and like nothing that even the most skilled chefs could ever build by hand.

Not that the ChefJetPro is going to be ending up in the kitchens of every aspiring confectioner anytime soon. The company behind the product intends to release the printer for a price tag of $100,000 later this year (for a “color” printer), with a “monochrome” version going for half that price. However, the number of companies showcasing 3D printing products at the CES climbed significantly this year, jumping from just a handful of displays in 2013 to over 30 this year. The growth in the market will institute greater competition for customers, which will in turn provide companies with greater motivation to unveil lower-priced options.

As is, there are already a lot of 3D printing options hitting the market. At the CES alone, there was one company – called American Pearl – that was using 3D printing to bring new levels of customizability to its jewelry operations, and another – called MakerBot – whose printer has already been used by one man to build an affordable and fully functional mechanical hand. MakerBot in particular will likely attract a lot of interest, not only for its inspirational customer story, but also because it is making plans with the consumer market in mind. In March, the company’s consumer model – called the Da Vinci printer – will hit store shelves for just $499.