Our history

Royal Copenhagen Ice Cream is an Australian company founded in 1982 by BT Wykoff after he imported the first circular gas fired cone cooker from Denmark. His intention was to introduce an ice cream parlour, based around waffle cones fresh off the cooker being filled with freshly made ice cream, all made on the premises from authentic Danish recipes.

The Danish theme continued into the store design and uniforms.

The first shop opened in December 1983 on The Corso in Manly to a fascinated and enthusiastic public and still draws and excites its customers today.

Back then, we offered one product, a giant freshly baked waffle cone containing two large scoops of Danish style ice cream, made in house and fresh each day. We called it The Regular and it remains our most popular product today.

The concept was an instant success and what was intended to be a single shop soon became a burgeoning franchise. The next outlet opened on Cavill Ave Surfers Paradise in 1984, and like our first shop, it still provides locals and tourists with outstanding products and service after almost 30 years.

Following the stunning success of the first franchised store, development continued in similar tourist hotspots.

Today, the waffle cone and freshly made ice cream remain the focus of our business while we continue to develop new products and flavours.

Our range has expanded to include a junior cone for smaller appetites, the spectacular waffle basket, shakes and homepacks.

Unique to Royal Copenhagen is that we never charge extra for extras. This means that your ice cream experience includes fresh cream, your cone choc- dipped and anything you fancy from our Self-Serve Toppings Bar.

Our franchisees make their ice cream, using our exclusive and ever expanding list of recipes, then use these as inspiration to create their own new and unique flavours. Once approved by Royal Copenhagen, the new recipes are shared with fellow franchisees. It’s a system that’s created a recipe list now boasting well over 50 flavours.

Our belief has always been that Royal Copenhagen sells more than super premium ice cream in a waffle cone, but also a fun, highly satisfying experience delivered by our happy, efficient and well trained staff.