Lick Me I'm Delicious

Overview

Charlie Harry Francis grew up with his family on a farm in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. His father was an ice cream maker and his mother was a baker. Francis wanted to find a way to bring together both baking and ice cream, and thus he came up with any flavor ice cream. Francis formerly worked in the advertising industry before starting Lick Me I’m Delicious. In 2011, Francis took part in Barclays’ “Take One Small Step” competition, this competition put on by the British banking service awarded £50,000 to each winning business idea. Francis’s idea was one of 9 to receive the most votes from a panel of judges and the public. Lick Me I’m Delicious’ first contraption was the portable nitro ice cream parlor, which appeared at their first event in September 2011. In 2016 the company is set to grow from £60,000 to £140,000 in profits. Today Francis works with Rhys Saunders, his operations manager, and Jake Scroby, the company’s event and client relationship manager. Lick Me I’m Delicious continues to operate its mobile ice cream contraptions for private events and create commissions for their clients.

Products

Charlie Francis has many unique inventions and products that his business offers for events and parties.

Nitro Parlor- The Nitro Parlor was the first invention of Lick Me I’m Delicious. This machine uses liquid nitrogen to make instant ice cream. The company boasts the parlour is able to make enough ice cream for 1500 people and create two custom flavors. The machine can be completely flattened for easy transportation and can be setup in less than an hour, all that is needed is an external power source. The machine can make any flavour of ice cream, but here are some of the flavours on the menu: Salted Caramel Cookie, Frozen Eton Mess, Dark Port and Stilton, Chocolate Popping Candy, Ultimate Banoffee Pie, Posh Bounty, Cafe e Chocolat, Raspberry Mojito, Lemon Meringue Pie, Dulce de Leche Praline Pecan, and Salted Whisky,Caramel, Blueberry Pie, Peanut Butter Caramel Cup, Turkish Delight, Choc Peanut Butter Berry, Breakfast Banana Pie, Double Chocolate Pretzel, Cherry Brandy Pie, Wasabi and Honey, Curry, Mystery, Gin and Tonic Sorbet, and Elderflower Sorbet.

The Tipsy Fountain- This invention is a large ornate Georgian style fountain that flows with liquor instead of water. The fountain can be filled with pretty much any style of liquor, from strawberry daiquiri to mojitos. Set-up for this fountain only takes about 60 mins but needs an external source of power.

Caramel Popcorn Exploder- This large air popping machine makes the caramel popcorn right in front of your eyes. Lick Me I’m Delicious boasts that they can flavor the popcorn however you want, ranging in flavors from toffee apple to vanilla cheesecake. This machine can be setup in less than an hour and just requires an external power supply.

Edible Fragrance- These fragrances can be sprayed onto the skin for a unique food inspired aroma or paired with edible scent strips to taste the spray. The fragrance factory can be setup in less than an hour and doesn’t require power. The flavors include: Bacon Sandwich, Fresh Orange, Unicorn Tears, Bubblegum, Popcorn, Horseradish, Melted Toffee, Pure Nectar, Ginger beer, Mint Chocolate Chip, Piña Colada, and Cookie.

Chocolate Tap- Able to be setup in less than an hour and only requiring an external power source this machine continuously produces melted chocolate that is served in a small droplet spoon and comes in a variety of flavors. The flavors include: Chocolate Raspberry Crunch, Melted Snickers, Chocolate Passion Fruit Meringue, Pear and Vanilla Fudge, Melted Mango Biscuit, Exploding Coconut, Chocolate Fudge, Salted Caramel Praline Pecan, Salted Caramel Cookie, Fresh Strawberry, and Strawberry Meringue.

Floss Whizzer- The Floss Whizzer is a cotton candy machine that whizzes out floss at 60 miles per hour. An air vortex system propels the candy into the air to be spun by the operator of the machine. Lick Me I’m Delicious recommends the machine be used outside or in easily cleaned spaces as the machine is messy. The floss comes in flavors such as: Mint Chocolate Chip, Lemon Sherbert, Vanilla Mocha, Apple and Custard, Banoffee Pie, Strawberries and Cream, Banana Split, Tiramisu, Apple Pie, Fruit Salad, Chocolate Orange, and Apple Blackcurrant.

Logopop- The logopop machine crafts lollipops using a frozen plate. The lollipops can then be personalized with logos printed onto them in cocoa butter. The flavors of these lollipops include: Eton Mess, Salted Caramel Popping Candy, Raspberry Shortbread, Salted Caramel Cookie, Mango Meringue, Chocolate Coco Pop, and Blueberry Pie. This machine can be setup in under and hour and just requires an external power source.

Mist Orbs- These mist orbs use ultrasonic vaporisation to create an inhalable mist that is sucked through a straw to get a taste of whatever flavor is chosen. This mist has no calories and can produce over 200 flavors. Some of the flavors are:Chocolate Cookie, Apple Pie, Strawberry Bonbon, Bubblegum, Maple Syrup Pancake, Toasted Marshmallow, Banana Milkshake, Black Forest Gateau, Butterscotch Fudge, Green Mint, Raspberry, Gingerbread, Aniseed Balls, Spearmint, Piña Colada, Dark Rum, Basil, Orange Sherbet, Violet, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Lychee, Strawberry, Mint Choc Chip, Chocolate Mousse, Mango, Ginger, Cucumber, Lavender, Pomegranate, Irish Coffee, Peppermint, Melon, Blackcurrant, Tiramisu, Apricot, Watermelon, and Pink Grapefruit.

Nitro Pods- These Nitro Pods are smaller versions of the Nitro Parlour. These small self-contained machines each cater for 100 people creating instant ice cream right in front of the clients. With very quick setup the pods can be placed all around. The pods can create any ice cream flavor that the Nitro Parlour creates and the ice cream can even be colored to the events color.

Nitro Buggy- This invention is the mobile version of the Nitro Parlour. The Buggy can drive at a top speed of 6 miles per hour and features a liquid nitrogen injection system. Featuring all the flavours of the Nitro Parlour, the Buggy can cater to up to 1000 people, indoors or out.

Glow In The Dark Ice Cream

After reading a research paper on jelly fish, Charlie Francis came up with the idea to create ice cream that glows in the dark based on the bio-luminescent property of the jelly fish. Francis partnered with scientists in China who were synthesizing these bio-luminescent proteins. This ice cream Francis created glows when the proteins react with the tongue’s warm temperature and pH. The protein that he used to create this glowing effect costs $320 for just two grams, making the cost of one ice cream scoop $220. As a more cost effective version of this ice cream, Francis created a version without the jellyfish protein that uses quinine to make an ice cream that glows when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Commissions and Other Projects

Other notable inventions and innovations of Francis’s include his levitating cocktail machine. This machine, dubbed The Levitron, was developed in 2014 as a collaboration with Professor Bruce Drinkwater of the University of Bristol. This invention uses 40 watts of sound to levitate a drop of alcohol that can be licked out of mid air.

As a special request from a client Francis was asked to create Viagra infused ice cream. He infused a champagne like flavor along with 25 mg of Viagra into each scoop and named the ice cream Arousal. Other ideas and inventions Francis has been working on are edible bubbles, invisible ice cream, and a jelly bean waterfall to name a few.