That’s us, Pat and Stick, having a moment at Sydney’s EQ markets, one of the first farmers markets where we sold our ice cream sandwiches, way back in 2004.
How was our business born? Well, while our friendship started over beer, we discovered that we’re both pretty passionate about food and most conversations revolved around what we ate or what we were going to eat. Turning one day to the subject of ice cream, we both agreed that most ice cream in Australia was pretty ordinary. Of course, that’s what happens when the market is dominated by two multi-nationals, so we thought, why don’t we start an ice cream company?
As we messed around in our home kitchens with our little Breville ice cream maker, whipping up some pretty weird and wonderful batches we had another idea – why not make a gourmet ice cream sandwich? After all, everyone loves an ice cream sandwich, but a good one was hard to come by. Hence the Pat and Stick’s Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich was created.
We started selling our sandwiches in local food markets around Sydney and got some fantastic feedback. So being a little on the impulsive side, we quit our day jobs and started working on Pat and Stick’s full-time.
Fast forward to today and we’re in a little production facility in Tempe (just behind Sydney’s airport) and are still doing pretty much everything in the business – making the cookie dough, baking the cookies, making the ice cream and assembling the sandwiches. The hours are long, but it’s immensely rewarding. When people rant and rave about our products it’s hard not to feel a little proud about what we’ve done so far.
What makes Pat and Stick’s different to many ice cream companies is that we’ve never compromised on the quality of ingredients or production methods. We use only the finest ingredients like rich Belgian chocolate, real vanilla beans, espresso coffee, real butter, and fresh Australian milk and cream. You won’t find any preservatives, artificial whatevers or fake fillery. It’s real food, made by real people, right here in Australia.
So from here, what’s next? We’ve been testing a line of tubs over the past couple of months and will launch a full range soon. We’ve also been baking some cookies for a potential cookie line. And we’ve launched our ice cream sandwich range into Melbourne and are looking at Brisbane and beyond.
But whatever we get up to you can be rest assured that some things won’t change. We are a proudly local business, owned by its founders and we love love love good food. So we’d like to thank everyone for their support over the years – we wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for you, our loyal customers. Here’s to eating many delicious ice cream sandwiches and more over the years ahead!
Cheers – Pat and Stick