The Licktators facts for kids
The Licktators was an ice cream manufacturing company in London, England that has been described by the department store Selfridges as "more Sid and Nancy than Ben & Jerry".
Foundation
Licktators was founded by activist Matt O’Connor, founder of Fathers 4 Justice and formerly of The Icecreamists. He uses unusual flavours and textures to create his ice creams such as donated breast milk, bread, roses and absinthe. The company once served a three-course Sundae Lunch which featured pea, beef and horseradish flavours. The company gained notoriety in 2011 for its "Baby Gaga" breast milk ice cream, which is made with donated breast milk. In 2015 Licktators collaborated with the band Blur to create an ice cream flavour based on their album, The Magic Whip.
The breast milk ice cream was launched in 2011 with the help of Victoria Hiley, a breastfeeding mother and advocate who answered an ad asking for breastmilk posted on Mumsnet, an online mothers' group. She donated 850 ml of breast milk which helped make the first 50 servings of ice cream. It was relaunched as "Royal Baby Gaga" in 2015 in celebration of the birth of Princess Charlotte and to remind the Duchess of Cambridge and mothers around the UK of the benefits of breastfeeding.
Founder Matt O'Connor has been involved with ice cream for over 20 years. As a designer, he helped launch Vienneta and Magnum, and designed the packaging for Loseley ice cream. He studied flavour theory in Italy at Bologna's Carigiani Gelato University. He works with Mark Broadbent, his chef and Alex Kammerling, a mixologist for Grey Goose.
