The core of the collection consisted of several dozen labels, which were gathered by Ladislav Likler and his classmates during his studies at the Dairy Industrial School. Systematic collection began in 1969, when he made acquaintance with other collectors at home and abroad. The collection expanded rapidly, and by 1974 it had been awarded a KSK diploma as an extraordinary collection of Swiss cheese labels, and in 1976 as the largest collection of labels from exotic and non-European countries. Since 1985, it has been the largest collection in the Czech Republic. From 1996 to 2006, the collection was actually the largest in the world and in 2009 it regained this title as the world's most extensive collection. At present, it contains 190 000 labels from 125 countries around the world.

An important milestone was the year 2007, when the collection was taken over by the company LAKTOS PRAHA spol. s r.o. Praha. Since then, it has been named the LAKTOS Collection. Ladislav Likler is the curator of the collection.

The collection is active, and apart from the collector's aspect it also has documentary-historical value. The collection was the basis for a publication by Ladislav Likler and collective called "The History of the Dairy Industry in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia" which maps the development of this sector until the year 1990. Additions to the collection are obtained through correspondence with producers, commercial companies and collectors at home and abroad. Apart from documenting development of companies, the collection also depicts progress in the area of packaging technology, graphics and polygraphics. Samples from the collection have been presented to the public more than twenty times.

Apart from labels, the collection also contains advertising materials from companies and national dairy associations, butter labels, yoghurt lids and cream portions, old milk bottles with embossed logos, advertising signs, etc. The collection also includes a library with specialised publications about the dairy industry and cheeses from around the world.

The LAKTOS Collection is active and will continue to document and present the cheese and diary industry to the public and professional circles.

Activities

Exhibitions
Ladislav Likler's collection
Denmark: State Agricultural Exhibition - Copehagen
France: Musée Moderne d'Art - Paris - Applied Graphics Exhibition
Annual C.T.F. Convention - Paris
Hungary: CSSR Cultural Centre - Budapest - Collectors' exhibition
Germany: CSSR Cultural Centre - Berlin - Collectors' exhibition

CSSR : Collectors' exhibitions - Prague, Neratovice, Ostrava, Brno
Mother Earth - České Budějovice
Hobby - Ostrava
80 Year Anniversary of the Diary Industrial School - Kroměříž
Convention of the World Dairy Federation - Prague
Geography on Cheese Labels - Cheese Festival in Kroměříž
Dairy History in South Bohemia - Veselí nad Lužnicí
Dairy History in South Moravia - Kroměříž
Dairy History in North Moravia and Silesia - Loštice
Dairy History in East Bohemia - Nový Bydžov
Dairy History in Prague - Prague, Laktos - permanent exhibition

LAKTOS COLLECTION

Breeding, herding and dairy industry on cheese labels
Ministry of Agriculture, Prague - August - September 2008
Secondary School of Ecology and Food Industry, Veselí nad Lužnicí - October 2008
Secondary Dairy Industrial School, Kroměříž - National Cheese Festival October 2008

Lectures
Publication activities