We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauri Gingerich and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauri, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Our family grew up in small town Indiana. Every corner of every county road had a sign pointing you to a small bakery or roadside shop. Almost everything we ate was homemade and everyone we knew spent a lot of time in their kitchens. When we moved to Tennessee, we quickly noticed a lack of those roadside businesses and quick accessibility to our favorite pies, breads, and other treats. We would bring our baked goods to potlucks and everyone would always rave! My mother, two sisters, and I starting toying with the idea of starting our own baking business and we were encouraged by those around us. We threw around some ideas and took a look at the market. It was 2018 and food trucks were really making a place for themselves in Knoxville. We had a background in soft pretzels and yeast doughnuts by doing local events in Indiana, and knew at the time there was nothing else like that in Knoxville. So The Sugar Queen was born. Our dad converted an old uniform truck into a food truck and we began selling delicious, homemade yeast doughnuts and soft pretzels to the community. It took awhile to gain momentum, but through our hard work and a little luck, our truck was able to generate the funds and following to begin our next project, The Sugar Queen Creamery! Why ice cream? Why not! Again, we grew up where there was an ice cream shop every couple of miles, and we felt that many parts of Knoxville were missing access to great ice cream. We jumped in at 110% and bought our location right before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The pandemic slowed the process down dramatically, but we were able to open our shop in June of 2022 and have not looked back!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Sugar Queen has always relied on real, balanced flavors and a delicious, homemade product. We don’t take shortcuts. We don’t skimp and save. We give our customer the real deal every time, and that has set us apart from others. It never gets old when our customers tell us that we gave them the best ice cream flavor or soft pretzel they’ve ever had. We have loved becoming a routine for the community to gather when they are celebrating an event or occasion. And we will continue to expand our offerings to meet our community where they are.

It hasn’t been easy getting to where we are today. Our family has lived and breathed all things Sugar Queen for the last five years, and sometimes it seems we’ve forgotten how we lived before it. We’ve taught ourselves how to run a successful business along the way, and we’ll never stop learning. But at the end of the day, our fundamental values have kept us on top of our game. We are passionate about the quality of our product. We care deeply about our customers. And we treat our employees with respect and admire their contribution to our business. We are so proud of The Sugar Queen and know our future is so bright!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Who do we thank? There are truly so many who have helped us along the way! The success of our food truck was the catalyst for the opening of our ice cream shop, and we had a few people and stops along the way that really made an impact!

Dale Akins, owner of The Chef’s Workshop in Knoxville, was someone we knew within the first few minutes of meeting who could make things happen. He advocated for us to attend his food truck rallies and would do his part in spreading the word to the community. Those rallies allowed us to reach areas of the community that had never heard of our truck and helped us grow the following that we have today.

The Wears Valley Fall Festival was the first event we attended with our food truck that allowed us to see our full potential. We have attended this event for the past five years and have loved every year! Great people and a beautiful location, we are so thankful to have been invited!

The Nourish Farmers’ Market in Market Square has been a fun experience for both our food truck and The Creamery for the past 3 years! The crowd at the Market is always ready to enjoy themselves and eat, and it has opened many opportunities for us as a result!

Eric and Lindsey White were big supporters of our food truck early on and allowed us to park at their business in a neighboring town to Knoxville. We became a weekly stop for many and have them to thank for it! They have become friends and supporters of our other adventures and we are so thankful to have made that connection early on!

Since 2021, our food truck has had the amazing opportunity to park and serve inside Dollywood. We quickly noticed that our supporters were now across country, not just East Tennessee, and that was largely due to Dollywood. Our food truck was in a situation of being in the right place at the right time, and our business would look so different if we had not been invited to spend some time with them! Thankful doesn’t even begin to say what this opportunity has meant for our business.

We cannot have a list of shoutouts without mentioning our father. He built our truck, he built our ice cream shop, and has fixed anything and everything along the way! He truly is our hero, and everyone knows who to call when we have a crazy idea! He made our vision come to life and we won’t ever be able to thank him enough!

Lastly, we have to express our thanks to our many employees over the last five years. We ALWAYS have customers commenting on our exceptional staff, and we cannot take all the credit. They are just great! Managing a food truck and ice cream shop can sometimes be difficult in a sea of “We’re Hiring” signs. Thankfully our employees are always willing to step up and lead when needed, and we have some that simply go above and beyond without ever asking! We couldn’t, and wouldn’t, do it without them. And we are so thankful the community has noticed how great they are!

Website: thesugarqueencreamery.com

Instagram: thesugarqueencreamery

Facebook: The Sugar Queen Creamery

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