Kleinpeter Farms Dairy is set to introduce three new ice cream flavors by Easter, all of which will contain products made in Louisiana. The first, a sweet potato pie ice cream, should come out in the next two weeks or so, says Jeff Kleinpeter, president of the dairy. The dessert is made with sweet potatoes from Bruce Foods of New Iberia and Louisiana cane sugar. Next up will be a coffee-flavored ice cream, naturally made with Community Coffee. Finally, Kleinpeter will introduce an Elmer’s Gold Brick Egg flavor, sweetened with chunks of the Ponchatoula-based candy. That will bring the number of flavors of Kleinpeter ice cream up to 10, Kleinpeter says. “We’ve got 10 other flavors in the works,” he says.
Along with adding new flavors, Kleinpeter is offering new sizes of its ice cream. Pints will hit grocery store freezers next week, alongside the gallon containers. Three gallon buckets of Kleinpeter ice cream are being introduced to restaurant customers. Right now, Kleinpeter ice cream is available within a 120-mile radius of Baton Rouge; the company is looking at moving into Lake Charles and Alexandria. “We’re studying that hard, but there’s no date,” Kleinpeter says.
Kleinpeter started selling ice cream a little more than a year ago. Customers responded to the product because they wanted to support a familiar local company, Kleinpeter says. “We’re their neighbor,” he says. “People know where our milk comes from and they trust us.”—Timothy Boone
