J.P. Licks

Owner, Vince Petryk

Vince Petryk is from Philadelphia. He majored in psychology at Temple University, having originally planned to become a family therapist. He moved to Boston at the age of 26 after being introduced to the ice cream industry. He worked at Hillary’s Homemade Ice Cream store after college and as he moved up the ranks he became more and more aware of the emotional ties that comes with ice cream. He stated, "While at Hillary’s, I witnessed daily the power and magic of ice cream. I realized that ice cream connects you to some of the fondest memories of your childhood." He later got married and moved to Jamaica Plain which he would later call his “true emotional hometown”. He worked at Wendy’s hamburger chain as a manager and there he learned essentially all he needed to know before starting his own store. He started the business in Jamaica Plain with his partner Michael Herbert. They each invested $25,000 to start the store, but Herbert only remained part of the company for a couple years before Petryk bought him out for $100,000.

Coffee

In 1999, J.P. Licks began roasting its own coffee in the headquarters in Jamaica Plain, with a wide selection of fair trade organic coffee and over twenty different coffee blends. J.P. Licks supports a community in Guatemala called the Trapichitos Community that handpicks and hand sorts the coffee. The growers decide the price and are paid directly to eliminate middlemen manipulation that often comes with growing coffee. The initial decision to make coffee was made by Petryk when Starbucks bought Coffee Connection and he was unimpressed by the quality of coffee in the Boston Area. He describes his coffee as "down the middle…dark enough for a hearty brew but not so dark that every bean tastes burnt". Also, depending on the store, J.P. Licks also offers breakfast goods such as croissants, muffins, cookies, cupcakes, scones and bagels. These are all made in the J.P. Licks headquarters.

Flavors

J.P. Licks uses ingredients that can be found in a typical household kitchen and incorporates them in innovative ways to create exotic flavors. As an example, the peach ice cream is made with fresh peaches grown in the United States, brown sugar, cream, milk and sugar. In total, J.P. Licks has over 300 recipes including lactose-free ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, low-fat yogurt and non-fat soft yogurt. J.P. Licks is known for its ambitious flavors of the month that if anything simply draw attention for being outrageous. Examples are cucumber, tomato basil, noodle kugel, avocado, disco inferno (Tabasco flavored), turning Japanese (wasabi flavored) and leprechaun brew (a green ice cream with Sam Adams). The chain has flavors of the month that emphasize and embellish the flavors and tastes of that season. For example, for fall it integrates the flavors of pumpkin and apple. These flavors resulted from extensive experimentation by Petryk himself; as he labeled himself a "mad scientist".

Community service

J.P. Licks is known to donate to local charities, organizations and schools. Not only does it give its food for various events but it also sets up in-store charitable incentives. It recently supported the Starlight foundation by giving a “J.P. Licks” dollar to anyone who donated one dollar to Starlight. It also set up a one-day special for Veterans Day where all proceeds from one-dollar coffees went to the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. In 2011, it made a long-term partnership with the Home for Little Wanderers and are encouraging donations through once again offering “J.P. Licks dollars” in all their stores.

Awards

J.P. Licks has received over 300 awards, ranging from major honors to small magazine recognitions. Past awards include “Best of Boston” by Boston magazine, “Best Location - Jamaica Plain” by Boston magazine, WBZ’s “A-List”, and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s “Small Business of the Year”.

More awards