University of Wisconsin - Extension

WESTBY ¿ Suzanne Huber used to complain that she couldn't get any "really good" ice cream.

So she got a recipe with all natural, all organic ingredients, found a processor, and made her own.

A business is born

Then Huber started a business. Today, Sibby's Premium Organic Ice Cream is found in more than 50 stores in Wisconsin. Demand is growing.

Sibby's comes in pint containers. All of its ingredients are organic, including the cream, nonfat dried milk, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Her chocolate variety contains organic cocoa. An independent association certifies Sibby's as 100 percent organic.

Huber is in the fifth generation to occupy a Vernon County farm homesteaded by Christian Sebion in 1848. She and her ancestors inherited the nickname "Sibb.¿ She did market research on a product name by asking people what they thought of ¿Sibby's.¿

"It really resonated, especially with young people," says Huber.

Entrepreneurial training gives focus

Huber enrolled in an entrepreneurial training course offered by the Small Business Development Center at UW-La Crosse. She applied for an Entrepreneurial Training Grant (ETG) to help pay for her course tuition. The ETG program is funded by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and administered through the UW-Extension Small Business Development Center network.

"At first I thought I would have to buy all the equipment it would take to make ice cream," says Huber. But the course and detailed business plan she wrote as a part of her classroom work showed her a more businesslike approach.

Best recipe, best ingredients

Huber still didn't know much about making ice cream. So she connected with Professor Emeritus Robert Bradley in food science at UW-Madison.

"Professor Bradley gave me a recipe for the best-quality organic ice cream that can be made," says Huber. "I solemnly promised him that I would never cheapen the product or the ingredients."

Huber gets her organic cream from Organic Valley Cooperative in La Farge. She rushes it to a dairy in Viroqua in sterilized cans where it is pasteurized, cooled and made into ice cream within hours. She's passionate about a fresh product.

Marketing organically

Huber has 17 years¿ experience working for a parcel-delivery service company, mostly as a route driver, so she knows about customer service. Jan Gallagher of the Business Development Center at UW-La Crosse says Huber has the persistence to make her business a success.

For now, Huber calls on supermarkets and food cooperatives, introducing them to her product. She makes deliveries from a freezer mounted on a pickup truck. She's also working on marketing through the media, school lectures and contacts with regional food distributors.

For more information: http://www1.uwex.edu/sbdc/">www1.uwex.edu/edu/sbdc