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NEWS
"Icecraft — A whale of a company"
Chamber Of Commerce / World
Trade Centres / Australian Trade Commission January 2000 (World Directory)
"MINNOWS in a huge sea" is how Managing Director, Vivienne Lipke modestly described her family-owned ice-moulding company – Icecraft International, when they first ventured into the international marketing scene.
But as the name suggests, the Queensland-based company that developed the world's first practical large-scale, fully reusable ice sculpture moulds, is now exporting their product to international hospitality industries in over 110 countries.
In 1987, after three years of research, Vivienne's husband Cec perfected the innovative
mould design, which requires no skill or other equipment to use – just freezer space.
Constructed from strong, easy-care fibreglass with A-Grade rubber inner linings, the
moulds create a unique directional freezing process and absorb expansion pressures, while
still ensuring shape and detail are perfectly maintained.
This means that ice sculptures no longer have to be carved by a sculptor working for hours
in a freezer, or by using cut-away moulds that can only be used once. Because of their
size and configuration, most of Icecraft's designs, if they were to be carved by hand,
would require multiple carving blocks joined together to replicate a complete design
– a time consuming and expensive process.
A sculpture is made by just filling the mould with water, placing in the freezer, and
un-moulding when frozen. Such a simple process saves much time and money and provides a
beautifully detailed and eye-catching display. Icecraft now has a range of over 60 designs
to suit almost every occasion. They also custom create many company logos and moulds such
as a large multi-dimensional ice palace for New York, plates and glasses for Russia and a
large polar bear for their agent in Denmark. Apart from the brilliant invention itself,
Vivienne believes the success of the business lies in providing personalised service and
being available 24 hours a day to suit the business hours of her clients from all parts of
the world. They may have been minnows at the start, but with international patents,
increasing exports, high profile customers (including many of the most prestigious hotel
chains), and an excellent record of repeat sales, Icecraft International has now become a
whale of a company.
