How a Hernando County company shares the best of local food one lick at a time
If you attend a play at Live Oak Theatre in Brooksville, or shop at a local artisan market, you may stumble upon Kevin or Esprit Herbert standing behind their old-fashioned ice cream cart named Sherbie. The husband- and-wife founders and owners of Herbert Sherbert are the entire team behind their locally made ice cream and ice pops made with local ingredients. If you do stop, buy one or two or even three. The current favorite is the blueberry and lemonade pop, a great combo of sweet blueberries spiked with the tartness of lemonade. They are lip smacking good to the last lick.
Edible Nature Coast: When was Herbert Sherbert founded and why?
Kevin Herbert: Herbert Sherbert was founded in June of 2018. My background as a working film actor and love for creativity really brought Herbert Sherbert to life over these last few years.
My last name is Herbert, so growing up, I had nicknames, two of them being Sherbert and Sherbie. Sherbet was one of my favorite summer treats growing up, and I never could get enough of it. I always dreamt that one day Herbert and Sherbet could go hand in hand. So, although [it’s been] 5 years, it kind of feels like we’ve always been around.
How do you divide up the work and handle any conflict that may arise?
“There’s a Herbert Behind Every Sherbert” is something we say and it’s something that we do take great pride in. Right now, production is my main duty for the business as well as quality control and delivery system. Esprit is the person behind our social media, manning the website orders and event coordination. To keep things organized we have found communication to be key. Divide and conquer, yes, but we are a stronger team when we are together. We’ve found that every piece of this business is a key piece of the whole.
How did you transition to a mostly wholesale business?
It was our plan a few years before Herbert Sherbert was founded. All based on one idea, “There is always a simpler way.”
Wholesale always seemed like a much simpler business strategy because of people. We love people. We love talking people’s ears off and asking questions. An easy question for me to ask is, “Wanna sell some Sherbert?” Our goal for the business was always to build a quality local product that people could enjoy and afford. Wholesale made it easy to get [our products] into the hands of other wonderful businesses. We love growth and want to see others grow as well.
What have been some of your more popular and not so popular flavors over the years?
The popular ones have ranged from our simplest flavors to the most extravagant. Our Orange-inal (orange sherbert), WildBerry Blue (blueberry sherbert) Chocolate Chip Chunk (vanilla with chocolate chip cookie crumbles) all the way to our newest flavor, Midnight Rendezvous (dark chocolate Oreo swirl). Those are our biggest sellers!
We like to keep our flavors simple, and we have found there’s a niche for each one on our official menu.
How do you develop new flavors?
One experience at a time. Most of the flavors on our menu are hand selected from moments, smells, and even times that we’d like to revisit. Like we always say, “flavors are how we bring you back.” For instance, our Original Sherbert Trifecta, compiled of orange, blueberry, and strawberry are all hand crafted to bring back an original Sherbet Bite, a floral spring morning or summer afternoon at the beach.
You try to buy local as much as possible. What are some of your favorite places and the ingredients you buy from them?
Farmhouse Market and Cafe out of Dade City is a great spot to find all of what you’re looking for locally, and we use their fresh baked goods, like cookies and brownies for our limited-time flavors. Our fruit is pulled from local farms such as Ferris Farms in Floral City and Nandi’s Farm [blueberries] in Dade City.
Why is local important to you?
Local fruits and other goods going into our product guarantees two things to our customers: That our product meets the quality that we promise for each and every scoop, and it means we get to hand inspect the bushels of fruit that we process. Our community can know that we strive to create something fantastic out of all the great ingredients that we have around us. No reason to reach out of our community for something that we already have within.
What are your plans for the future?
We are setting the stage for our next big expansion. We are currently in the process of building a new manufacturing facility to better our product availability. With that, we are beginning a new level of employment from within our Herbert Sherbert family and looking for new faces to join the team. Th is will be over the next 6 months. We’re both very excited to be in the position to grow with the community.
Why did you start Herbert Sherbert?
Herbert Sherbert has always been about two things: creativity and simplicity.
Creativity is the lifeblood of Herbert Sherbert because that’s what I’ve spent my whole life doing: creating and innovating my life all along the way. I’ve had jobs that ranged from Disney World to managing an ice cream shop. Th e best idea was to put the knowledge I had acquired to good use.
Together, Herbert Sherbert is making the world vibrant one new idea at a time. What is your favorite fl avor of all time and favorite current fl avor? Blueberry has always been my baby. It’s the most aromatic in our Sherbert family.As a lover of dark chocolate, the fl avor I always fall for, is our Midnight Rendezvous—dark chocolate with dark chocolate cookie crumbles and dark chocolate syrup rolled in.
What new products and fl avors might people see in the future?
Currently, we are perfecting a new limited-time fl avor each month so that we keep things fresh and spicy. Th is month is a Blueberry Lemonade Popsicle, and the next on the list is a Caramel Waffl e Cone ice cream. Our fl avor idea list is limitless, and we love suggestions winkwink*.
- For more information, follow Herbert Sherbert on Facebook or Instagram. To find them or place an order, visit their website at herbertsherbert.com.
