Cliff's Homemade Ice Cream to debut new flavors

By Laurie Gordon
LAFAYETTE — Cliff's Homemade Ice Cream will debut its new flavors for the season here in Sussex County at Project Self-Sufficiency's "A Taste of Talent" in Lafayette.
Cliff's Homemade Ice Cream drive-up store may be located in Ledgewood, down in Morris County, but the brand is well-loved in Sussex County. Many Sussex folks don't mind the 25-minute drive to the store, or they know that Cliff's is available here at Hayek's Market in Newton.
The company is also well-represented in Sussex County through “A Taste of Talent” and other philanthropic events.
Owner Peter Freund, who lives in Green Township, said the business draws customers from all over the area. "Some people don't know that Cliff's is open year-round," he said. "It keeps continuity and, for instance, when it was 6 degrees on President's Weekend, we had a big crowd. People also come year-round for our cakes to celebrate birthdays and special events."
The Sussex County connection began at “A Taste of Newton” several years ago. The event is an extravaganza that fills Spring Street with a plethora of different restaurants and food-related businesses. Guests meander from station to station sampling the different food, and proceeds go toward scholarships for teens entering the culinary field. Cliff's had a table giving out samples of ice cream and Hayek's was there with samples of their culinary creations.
"Some of our people went over and sampled the ice cream and said it was really good," said Dan Hayek, the owner of Hayek's Market. He went over and tried it and he and Freund struck up a conversation which led to Hayek's carrying Cliff's ice cream.
"Going into a store on a trial basis is something we do little by little at first to test the waters," Freund said. "We started by selling our ice cream in Hayek's freezer case, and then when the Hayeks did their expansion a few years back, which included a walk-up ice cream stand, they started scooping some of our flavors."
The marriage between Cliff's and Hayek's has been a great success.
In addition to “A Taste of Newton,” both businesses are involved in “A Taste of Talent.” Held each April at Perona Farms in Lafayette, the event features numerous stations staffed by different restaurants and benefits Project Self-Sufficiency, a vital non-profit organization that supports and empowers low-income individuals and families, improving their quality of life through comprehensive family stability and personal and economic self-sufficiency services.
"PSS is a really incredible organization, and we're pleased to be a part of ‘A Taste of Talent’ every year," Freund said.
At this April's event, Cliff's will debut some new flavors.
"Late April/the beginning of May is when our big season begins, so it coincides well to bring out new flavors at ‘A Taste of Talent,’" Freund said. "The way we make our ice cream isn't in big bulk batches, so we can see how people like the flavors."
Cliff's Ice Cream was opened in 1975 by Cliff Freund, and offers about a dozen flavors of soft-serve and 60 flavors of hard ice cream. Freund was an ice cream salesman, a retail businesses operator, and a teacher at Roxbury High School. Freund developed his own homemade, high-quality ice cream with original flavors. Since opening, Cliff's has stayed relatively the same, including their nostalgic walk-up counter.
Cliff's has won numerous awards for its ice cream and has also continued to successfully grow and expand the off-site corporate catering and concessions divisions of their business.
The recipes have been tweaked and perfected over time, but Cliff's has always stood for premium homemade ice cream. From families heading to Cliff's on a summer evening to enjoy time together in the store's picnic area, to sports teams celebrating after a big game, to surprising a birthday boy or girl with one of their ice cream cakes, Cliff's is famous for making memories and smiles.
"We appreciate all of our customers and are happy to have a presence not just in Morris County, but in Sussex County as well," Freund said.