A new conceptual ice cream installation at Selfridges offers visitors the coolest and creamiest fix.

• Date: Open till 1 November 2009
• Location: Selfridges’ Ultralounge (lower ground floor, Oxford Street)
• Master of Cool Innovation: Matt O’Connor, entrepreneur and provocateur

A subversive new ice cream brand, The Icecreamists, will launch at Selfridges’ flagship Oxford Street store this week with a subterranean “God Save The Cream” themed ice cream and entertainment installation in the store’s Ultralounge on the lower ground floor.

The Icecreamists is the ultimate ice cream boutique, offering an array of ‘vice creams’ and guilty pleasures including molecular cryogenic cocktails served at -196C, a Sex Pistol ice cream, artisan ice cream flavours from around the world, pure frozen yogurts and sorbettos; all freshly prepared every morning by a master mixologist.

The Icecreamists is a new concept in ice cream, offering visitors the coolest breakfast on earth, lunchtime licks, afternoon cream tease and an après shopping fix. The decadent installation will also feature live in-house band Jimi Love and The Icecreamists, DJs, dancers and catwalk shows.

The Icecreamists plan to liberate Londoners from what they describe as ‘ordinary ice cream’ – ice cream made with vegetable fat and fake chocolate. As part of the ‘Say No To Ordinary Ice Cream’ Campaign The Icecreamists will run an ice cream amnesty offering shoppers the opportunity to swap their shop bought ice creams for real, freshly made boutique ice cream made that morning in the Selfridges boutique.

Ice cream is the world’s greatest socialising agent. Here are just a few of the things the boutique will be offering:

• Cryogenic Cocktails made with liquid nitrogen and served at your table, including The Icecreamists signature ice cream cocktail, the ‘God Save the Cream’ – a ‘reverse flambé’ served at a blistering -196 degrees

• An exciting menu of sweet and savoury ice creams including The Gordon’s Glory – a 21st century reimagining of the knickerbockerglory and The Sex Pistol - a natural stimulant ice cream served in a glass accompanied by a shot of absinthe in a pink water pistol.

•  The Sundae Lunch, fresh pea sorbet with a hint of mint, beef bouillon and horseradish sorbet with a Yorkshire Pudding crisp and an apple and blackberry crumble gelato.

• The Chocolate Volcano – their exclusive eye-wateringly calorific ‘Diet Destroyer’. This promiscuous little number has led to one-night-stands, life-long romances, affairs and even marriage proposals. So breathtakingly outrageous and immoral it could be banned under the Obscenity Laws. Submit to X-rated molten Belgian chocolate sauce poured onto a mountain of Ecuadorean Dark Chocolate Ice Cream and served with fresh seasonal fruit.

• Artisan ice creams exclusively designed by Italy’s acclaimed gelato master Roberto Lobrano using authentic ingredients from around the world. Gourmet flavours include Tahitian Vanilla, Venezuelan Chocolate, Argentinian Dulce De Leche and North African Spiced Cinnamon.

Matt O’Connor, founder of The Icecreamists, says, “If you thought you knew ice cream, think again. The Icecreamists will liberate the world from ordinary ice cream with our range of exclusive freshly made ice creams and cryogenic cocktails. Chocolate has grown up in recent years, but ice cream has suffered from a poverty of imagination. We hope to change this with the biggest revolution in ice cream since it was first invented.”

Boutique Ice Creams

* Argentinian Dulce De Leche (La Salamandra brand)
* Asian Spiced Ginger
* English Brown Bread
* Gianduia Torino with Chocolate & Hazelnuts
* Hazelnut from Piedmont
* Italian Espresso
* North African Spiced Cinnamon with Sweet Tea
* Pistacchio from Bronte
* Rosewater
* Seasonal Berry Sorbetto with Fortified Wine
* Sorrento Lemon Sorbetto
* Swiss White Chocolate
* Tahitian Vanilla
* Traditional Milk Chocolate
* Twisted Toffee Apple
* Venezuelan Chocolate

Roberto Lobrano

Roberto has been whipping up mouth-watering gelato since he was 11 years old and since then has risen through the ranks of gelati creators to become one of Italy’s top artisans. He has won many awards for his creations including the prestigious Golden Merlin for his Basil Gelato. When not creating ice creams fit for royalty, he spends his time lecturing at the Carpigiani Gelato University near Bologna.

Matt O’Connor

Matt O’Connor is a man who eats, sleeps and breathes ice cream. He has over 20 years experience working with some of ice cream’s biggest brands. Matt relishes a challenge and changing the way we think about frozen deserts is something which comes naturally to him!

About Selfridges

Selfridges is 100 years old in 2009. The actual birthday was on 15 March but the main centenary celebrations are taking place throughout the summer.

• The Ultralounge is in the lower ground floor of Selfridges’ Oxford Street store. It was launched as a dedicated events space in February 2006. Since then it has featured events celebrating Punk; a Brian Eno video arts installation entitled Luminous, a celebration of Surrealism in collaboration with the V&A. Since 2007, the Ultralounge has been showing more art exhibitions including Lattice, an installation by sculptor Conrad Shawcross commissioned by the store; a show called Exactitudes by Dutch artists Air Versus and Ellie Uyttenbroek; or Kay Saatchi’s Anticipation – an exhibition featuring an edit of the work from the most talented emerging artists living in Britain today. All these exhibitions generated a lot of critical and public interest.

• Selfridges: the business was founded by American entrepreneur Gordon Selfridge in 1909 and run by him until he retired in 1940 and took on the role of President. Gordon Selfridge died in 1947. Four years later the business was sold to Lewis’ of Liverpool for £3.4 million.

• In 1965 Charles Clore’s British Shoe Corporation won control of Selfridges in a take-over for £63 million. New developments included the opening of Miss Selfridge.

• In 1998 the company was de-merged from the Sears Group and floated on the London Stock Exchange.

• In 2003 Galen Weston purchased Selfridges. He and his wife Hilary are closely involved with the development and growth of the company and their daughter Alannah is Creative Director.

• In the year ending 31 January 2008, Selfridges’ sales rose by 10 per cent to £655 million and profit grew by 30 per cent to £84.1 million.

• Galen Weston is Chairman of Selfridges and, in January 2004, Allan Leighton was appointed Deputy Chairman.

• Paul Kelly became Chief Executive of Selfridges in February 2004. Before that, Paul was Managing Director of Brown Thomas in Dublin for ten years. He has worked with the Weston family for over 20 years.

• Galen Weston is Chairman of the premier luxury goods company which, as well as Selfridges, includes Holt Renfrew in Canada and Brown Thomas in Ireland.

Check www.selfridges.com for more information.

For further information and images, please contact: Taylor Herring PR – 0208 206 5151

The research was commissioned by Del Monte Superfruit Smoothies who has produced a Daniel Craig replica lolly, created by a team of artists who recreated Daniel Craig’s iconic Casino Royale scene, in which he emerges from the sea in his trunks.

Craig, who is best known for playing tough action smoothie James Bond, has starred opposite some of Hollywood’s most beautiful leading ladies including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman and Olga Kurylenko. Sometimes a little frosty about his private life, Daniel Craig is a true gent, who never kisses and tells. His dapper good looks saw him named Britain’s Best Dressed Man by GQ in both 2007 and 2008; and now he can add the ultimate accolade – that in a poll of British women Craig is literally the coolest smoothie!

The top three is dominated by big screen hunks with Jude Law scooping second place and Hugh Grant taking third. Welsh hunks Steve Jones and Tom Jones take fourth and fifth places, while Scottish film star Ewan McGregor comes in sixth. Davids Cameron, Beckham and Tennant take positions seven, eight and nine, while the top ten is completed by silver fox Philip Schofield.

The Del Monte Coolest Smoothies are:

1. Daniel Craig (75%)

2. Jude Law (69%)

3. Hugh Grant (44%)

4. Steve Jones (38%)

5. Tom Jones (31%)

6. Ewan McGregor (30%)

7. David Cameron (25%)

8. David Beckham (14%)

9. David Tennant (12%)

10. Philip Schofield (9%)

Matt O’Connor, from Del Monte Superfruit Smoothies said; “Daniel Craig topped our poll of Britain’s coolest celebrities and thanks to our Del Monte lolly replica he is officially immortalised as super smooth and licensed to chill.”

The Daniel Craig lollies were commissioned to launch the new Del Monte Superfruit Smoothie, a refreshing blend of blueberries, pomegranate and cranberries, and are part of the Del Monte range of guilt-free iced refreshment which contain the finest fruits and juices. The smoothies come in at under 100 calories each and are a tasty way to enjoy an ice cool treat whilst looking after your waistline. The special Daniel Craig smoothie lollies are being distributed during the first ever National Ice Cream Week (1st - 7th June 2009) a week of ice cream-related shenanigans to celebrate the nation’s favourite summer food.

For more information contact Taylor Herring PR 0208 206 5151

LONDON, Friday 18th May 2009: A vintage recipe for ice cream has provided the inspiration, this morning , for an acclaimed Italian tenor to stage a unique operatic performance – for cows.

Marcello Bedoni, one of Europe’s leading tenors, flew to the UK specially for the cow concert following an invitation from Italian ice cream maker Antonio Federici who are re-launching a 100 year old brand.

The gelato, which goes on sale this month, has been faithfully recreated from a century old family recipe. Its creator Antonio Federici, who lived near Portofino on the Italian Riviera, believed that listening to the opera he loved was beneficial to his cows and co-workers.

He was convinced that it stimulated the production of endorphin-rich milk and created a happy working environment.

He stipulated that opera must be an essential ingredient to the recipe. The recipe, which has been handed down through the generations, has now been passed onto his grandson Frank Frederick.

Frank Frederick says; “My grandfather always sang to the cows before milking and in our quest to recreate the gelato my brother and I enjoyed as children, we are sticking faithfully to his recipe. The cows will enjoy the recital and this will be reflected in the quality of the milk they produce for us. The passion of the music will be reflected in the product. We also plan to stage opera performances within the Antonio Federici  factory this summer for our work force so that everyone enjoys the benefits of this wonderful music. ”

The ice cream manufacturer has laid on a series of opera recitals which kicked off today at Cockshotts Farm near Clitheroe, Lancashire where the Fresian herd were serenaded with tunes including Amore ti vieta by Giordano and E lucevan le stelle by Puccini.

Hayley Campbell-Gibbons, Dairy Adviser to the NFU commented “Soothing sounds or music can reduce stress and induce relaxation and a healthy, contented cow is likely to produce more milk and anything that enhances that can only be a good thing.”

Marcello’s recent international performances have included the title roles in Berlioz’s LA DAMNATION DE FAUST in Warsaw, LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN in Wuppertal, as well as TOSCA and MADAME BUTTERFLY in Dublin.

Bedoni says; “I am looking forward to the concerts – the cows are such gentle beasts and have a good ear for opera. I have put together a special repertoire for my audience including soothing arias and Napolitan songs. I am steering clear of rousing numbers like Wagner and Carmina Burana!”

Marcello Bedoni will be joined by female trio The Gelato Girls – Nara Taylor, Alexandra Carter and Alexandra Jones – who will be performing their own take on “That’s Amore” – “That’s Gelato”! The trio will also be making appearances at the factory in Wigan where Antonio Federici’s is produced, to give the workers a little of the dolce vita too.

Antonio Federici dedicated his life to his love of gelato – he was still whipping his own ice cream aged 102 and fell off his bike delivering it aged 96. And now, more than 100 years after the grandfather of Italian ice-cream created the first perfect scoop, his grandsons Frank and Philip Frederick have worked to recreate for the market the Pistacchio, Panna Cotta and Gianduia (chocolate and hazelnut) gelati the family enjoyed at home.

Notes To Editors

Ice cream impresario Frank Frederick, opera singer Marcello Bedoni, Farmer Robert Gill, and National Farmers Union expert Gwyn Jones are available for interview.

More information about Italian gelato Antonio Federici’s can be found at www.antoniofederici.com

 The range of gelati are for sale in Sainsbury’s stores across the UK with a full roll out expected in September.

Video clips and pictures are available

For more information please contact Kat Taylor at Taylor Herring PR – 020 8206 5151 / 07881 786 240 / kat.taylor@taylorherring.com

Analysts at Fredericks are predicting a bumper summer for ice cream sales. Bookings in British seaside towns are hugely up on previous years as holiday makers ditch European holidays in favour of UK resorts.

Taylor Herring will oversee the brand launch for Federici, which offers – Pistacchio, Panna Cotta and Gianduia (chocolate and hazelnut) flavours.

Faithfully recreated from a 100 year old family recipe, the grandsons of ice cream pioneer Antonio Federici, Frank and Philip have brought back the gelato taste they enjoyed as children on the Italian Riviera. The range will be available exclusively at 315 Sainsburys stores across the UK in April, with a full roll-out in September.

Cadbury’s Flake 99 and Del Monte Fruit Smoothie products will feature in a high profile national and regional PR campaign that includes stunts, events and an online elements.

Fredericks is a business forged by pioneers – the company developed the Mars Bar Ice Cream in 1988, reinvented the iconic Flake 99 in 1999 and created the World’s first wobbly lolly in 2007 with Jelly Babies. In 2008 the company was named the Most Innovative Ice Cream company in the World and received The Grocer award for the Top Launch in Ice Cream.

Account Director Kat Taylor and a team of four will report directly to Jacqueline Walters, Marketing Manager at Fredericks.

Jacqueline Walters said; “We are excited about working with Taylor Herring. The brand sparkle that they deliver for entertainment and media clients caught our eye and we wanted a dynamic creative approach that is line with our own vision for these leading brands.”

For further information contact;  kat.taylor@taylorherring.com