MANITOWOC – Hoffmann Family of Companies has acquired Cedar Crest Ice Cream, the company announced Monday.
With headquarters in Winnetka, Illinois, HF Companies also owns Oberweis Dairy — another beloved regional brand known for its quality and heritage, the company said in a news release.
Cedar Crest has been owned for more than 50 years by brothers Ken, Robert, Bill and Tim Kohlwey. The popular ice cream business — with headquarters in Cedarburg and manufacturing plant in Manitowoc — will remain in family stewardship through the Hoffmann family, according to the release, as the Kohlwey brothers move into retirement.
Who will lead Cedar Crest Ice Cream after the Hoffmann Family acquisition?
As part of the transaction, Renato DePaolis, CEO of Oberweis Dairy, will assume leadership of Cedar Crest.
“It’s not lost on me that Cedar Crest is a 50-year-old brand and Oberweis is approaching its 100th anniversary serving Midwest communities and families,” DePaolis said in the release. “Together, we represent more than 150 years of rich ice cream history, which is a legacy that is both meaningful and worth celebration as we look to the future.”
Cedar Crest was founded in 1976. The manufacturing plant and the Cedar Crest Ice Cream Parlor, both at 2000 S. 10th St. in Manitowoc, have become landmark destinations for locals and visitors.
“We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built,” Ken Kohlwey said in the release. “My brothers and I wouldn’t hand over the reins to just anyone. When we saw what the Hoffmann family had accomplished with Oberweis in such a short time, we knew we could trust them to continue to grow our beloved business as we enter the sweetest chapter in our lives: retirement.”
Cedar Crest offers a variety of frozen desserts, including more than 80 ice cream flavors, 10 custard varieties, six sherbets and three dairy-free sorbets.
Cedar Crest Ice Cream will remain a separate brand under Hoffmann Family of Companies
The release says HF Companies will continue to operate Cedar Crest and Oberweis as distinct brands under its broader portfolio.
Ken Kohlwey told the Herald Times Reporter in a 2017 article for our Making Manitowoc series: “You never get sick of seeing how happy customers are. I’ve never gotten sick of ice cream.”
The Kohlwey brothers initially manufactured their ice cream in a small shop they bought in Oshkosh. They bought the larger Manitowoc manufacturing plant from Land O’Lakes in 1988.
“When we moved from Oshkosh, we were cleaning up and found an old soda fountain in the garage. I said ‘Why don’t we start an ice cream parlor in Manitowoc?’” Ken Kohlwey said.
And they did.
Cedar Crest produces about 15,000 to 16,000 gallons of ice cream each day. It’s considered a regional business, meaning it distributes to mostly stores and ice creams shops in Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and about 40 miles into Illinois.
The business employs about 50 in Manitowoc, and Cedar Crest has about 100 workers overall.
How the Kohlwey brothers built Cedar Crest Ice Cream in Manitowoc
Dairy is in the Kohlwey blood. Their father bottled milk in Cedarburg, but there wasn’t much money in milk in the 1970s, so the boys branched into ice cream. They came up with the name Cedar Crest way back in the 1970s when they made and sold caramel apples.
“At one time, we had a little crown and a robe, trying to show it was a premium product, and reflect the idea of the crest,” Ken Kohlwey told the Herald Times Reporter.
Today’s logo shows a covered bridge to reflect a landmark in Cedarburg, the last covered bridge in Wisconsin.
When the brothers bought the Manitowoc site, it came with landmark “Bernice” the cow, which stands proud outside the building.
Visitors love to say “hi” or take pictures with Bernice. No word on what her future is, but hopefully she’ll stay put as the acquisition moves forward.
Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@usatodayco.com or call 920-606-2575.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Beloved Wisconsin Cedar Crest ice cream brand sold to new owners
Reporting by Patti Zarling, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter / Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Patti Zarling, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter | USA TODAY Network
