How It All Began

We returned to Hawaii as often as possible, and on one visit, Walter bought an ice cream cone that was so awful we immediately threw it away. He looked at me, I looked at him, and we proclaimed that we would come back here to make really fabulous ice cream. Visions of lying on a tropical beach swirled in my head. Walter said he would build a shack and hang a hammock out back. It sounded perfect. After all, Walter was a successful San Francisco restaurateur. And he’d been raised in Europe, where he was no stranger to delicious handmade ice cream and exquisite bakery goodies. So we packed our bags and found a piece of land in sleepy Hanapepe Town on the west side of Kauai.

The Ice Cream Kitchen

Our “factory” was a single ice cream machine, and our “desk” was a door on two sawhorses. The first flavors we tested were macadamia nut and vanilla. It was hard work, but darn it, somebody had to do it. Hawaii deserved a super-premium ice cream. Those first two flavors (and the half-gallon of blueberry cheesecake we made for the electrician) expanded to over two hundred. There was no time for hammocks, and very little relaxing on the beach. Then, in 1985, we bought a cup of coffee we didn’t care for and immediately threw it away. He looked at me, I looked at him. “Uh, oh,” I said. Two months later we had a coffee roastery behind our ice cream factory. And what’s a gourmet cup of Kona coffee without a delectable cinnamon roll to go with it?

Together we tested many of our favorite family recipes and now Lappert’s Hawaii’s mouth watering bakery goodies are becoming as popular as our signature coffees and super premium ice cream. Walter’s gone now, but the aloha that we created together lives on in everything we do at Lappert’s Hawaii. All of our products are made fresh daily in small batches right in Hanapepe, Kauai. We continue to use only the finest ingredients, whether in our ice cream, coffee, or bakery goodies. And that passion for quality holds true for the Lappert’s Hawaii team as well — only the best. Many have been with us since the beginning, because the concept of ohana (family) is integral to our success.