From the Farm to Your Cabin Freezer: The Story Behind Cruze Farm Ice Cream

There are ice cream shops all over the Smoky Mountains. Storefronts, chains, soft-serve windows on every corner of the strip. Most of them are perfectly fine.

And then there’s Cruze Farm.

Cruze Farm isn’t a dessert concept or a franchise. It’s a fourth-generation family dairy in Knoxville, Tennessee — Jersey cows on pasture 365 days a year, milk that’s never been homogenized so the cream still rises to the top, ice cream churned from that same herd. The Sevierville location on the Parkway brings all of that directly to the Smokies corridor.

As one of our Decade of Hapey giveaway sponsors, Cruze Farm is contributing a cooler tote and six free pints; the kind of prize that turns your cabin’s freezer into a genuine highlight of the trip. Before we get to the prize, though, let us tell you where this ice cream actually comes from.

It Started with a Wedding and a Herd of Cows

Earl Cruze was a fourth-generation dairy farmer with a specific dream: to bottle milk with his name on it. Cheri was a 29-year-old who wanted a horse. They met ice skating at the Ice Chalet in Bearden, got married three months later, and in what might be the most on-brand beginning to a family farm story ever told, came straight back from the courthouse to milk the cows.

No honeymoon. Just cows, commitment, and the beginning of something that would take decades to fully understand.

They built a small processing plant behind the parlor and started selling bottled milk to anyone who would buy it, mostly home customers. In 1988 they landed their first real account with the Knoxville Food Co-op. In 1992 they opened a scoop shop at the East Town farmers’ market, hand-dipping ice cream churned on the farm. When that market eventually closed, they focused on their milk business and kept growing.

The Next Chapter: Colleen, Manjit, and a Food Truck Stove

After Earl and Cheri’s daughter Colleen graduated from the University of Tennessee, she came home with a mission: sell all the surplus milk the farm was producing. That turned out to be a bigger project than anyone expected, and the most effective solution was opening an ice cream store.

Colleen had been working the sales side of the business, landing accounts at local spots like Magpies and Old City Java. The farm bought a food truck. Cheri ordered a stove for it so they could serve food in colder seasons. And in 2010, Colleen met Manjit, a cook she encountered at the Bistro on Gay Street, who became the first Cruze Farm cook.

What followed was a run of openings that built Cruze Farm into something genuinely significant in the Knoxville food scene: two pop-up locations in 2016 and 2017, a permanent spot for Asbury Ice Cream in October 2017, the Pizza Barn in January 2018 (opened on Dolly Parton’s birthday, which we choose to believe was entirely intentional), and the Gay Street location in August 2018.

The Sevierville location came in October 2020. Smokies visitors finally had direct access to what Knoxville had known for years.

45 Years in the Making: A Cruze Farm Timeline

The full arc from courthouse to cooler is worth seeing laid out:

A Farm Forever

One detail in Cruze Farm’s story that sets them apart from every other ice cream stop in the Smokies corridor: they placed a conservation easement on their Knoxville farm.

A conservation easement is a legal commitment; the land is protected from development in perpetuity. It can never be sold for condos, stripped for a parking lot, or converted into anything other than what it’s always been: a working dairy farm. The Cruze family made that choice deliberately, and they describe it with a phrase that’s hard to forget: a farm forever.

In a region where farmland disappears faster than most people notice, that commitment is meaningful. When you buy a pint of Cruze Farm ice cream, you’re supporting a family that has bet its land on staying exactly who they are.

What Comes from That Farm

The Sevierville scoop shop serves ice cream churned from milk produced by Cruze Farm’s own Jersey herd; cows that are on pasture year-round and never given hormones. The milk is non-homogenized, meaning it hasn’t been mechanically altered to blend the fat throughout: the cream rises naturally to the top, the way milk worked before industrial processing changed it.

Beyond ice cream, Cruze Farm’s bottled dairy products have developed their own following; though the Sevierville location focuses primarily on scoops and pints. Here’s the product range worth knowing about:

The 2024 Best Chocolate Milk in Tennessee award is, in context, completely unsurprising. Milk that comes from a known herd, processed by the people who raised the cows, bottled without homogenization; it tastes different.

Better.

Worth going out of your way for.

Meet the Manager Who Grew Up with the Brand

The Cruze Farm Sevierville location is led by Emily Merritt, and her story is as much a Cruze Farm story as Earl and Cheri’s.

Emily started at Cruze Farm in 2017, the same year the Gay Street pop-up opened. She was 16 years old with no work experience. Her first meeting with Colleen left an impression: she knew she wanted to work hard to become what Colleen called a “boss lady.” She took that seriously.

Over the next several years, Emily worked every station Cruze Farm had. The Gay Street pop-up. Asbury Ice Cream when it opened in fall 2017. The Pizza Barn when it launched on Dolly’s birthday in January 2018. She cross-trained across pizza and ice cream, ran busy shifts, trained new employees ahead of the Sevierville opening, and even did a stint as the milk delivery driver at the farm.

In 2022 (at 21 years old) she was approached by Cruze Farm’s COO with the opportunity to manage a brand-new location. She said yes. She spent that summer living in Jefferson City, running the Morristown pop-up, then returned to Downtown Knoxville as an Assistant Manager while finishing her Microbiology degree at UT.

In October 2024, she transferred to Sevierville to help train a new manager. The temporary move became permanent. She accepted the General Manager role in 2025; eight years after she walked into that Gay Street pop-up with no work experience and a goal she’d set for herself at age 16.

🎁

The Prize

Six pints of Cruze Farm ice cream in your cabin’s freezer is not a small thing. That’s a scoop after dinner every night for a week, or a designated dessert night with the whole group, or the very reasonable decision to eat ice cream for breakfast because you’re on vacation and the mountains are beautiful and you earned it.

The insulated cooler tote travels with you, pick up your pints at the Sevierville location on your way into town, tuck them into the cooler, and you’re set for the stay.

Redemption Details

• No blackout dates. No restrictions. One-time use at any Cruze Farm location.
• Sevierville location: 1642 Parkway (open Sunday–Thursday 11 AM–9 PM, Friday–Saturday 11 AM–10 PM)
• Additional locations in Knoxville (Asbury Ice Cream, Gay Street) and Morristown

A Recommendation from the Team (and a Nod Back at Us)

When we asked Emily for her favorite local recommendation, she pointed visitors toward Ogle Brothers General Store, a nearby spot worth adding to any Smokies itinerary for its local goods and old-fashioned charm.

She also mentioned Hapey Cabin Rentals, which we’ll accept graciously and return in kind: the best dessert after a day exploring the Smokies is a scoop of Cruze Farm ice cream on the way back to the cabin, followed by the hot tub and whatever movie the kids agree on. That’s a good evening.

How to Enter the Decade of Hapey Giveaway

Entering is free. Every action below earns you additional entries, more entries means a better shot at winning.

Our 10th anniversary is a reason to celebrate, and we want you to celebrate with us. The Decade of Hapey giveaway brings together the best of what the Smoky Mountains have to offer, with incredible experiences contributed by local partners.

Six Cabins. Your Call.

If you win, the choice is yours. Pick any Hapey cabin for your 2-night getaway, from a cozy romantic escape for two to a mountain retreat that sleeps the whole crew.

🏡 Blissful Tranquility
A peaceful Pigeon Forge escape with stunning views, a private hot tub, and a fenced yard your pup will love. Sleeps 6.

🏡 Timeless Tranquility
Cozy, classic, and perfectly romantic. A Pigeon Forge cabin for two (or four) with a hot tub and all the creature comforts. Sleeps 4.

🏡 Hapey Memories
Bring the family (and the dogs). A warm, inviting Sevierville cabin designed for making the kind of memories you’ll talk about for years. Sleeps 4.

🏡 Sleepy Bear Ranch
Our biggest cabin — perfect for reunions, big families, or a group that likes to spread out. Pigeon Forge. Sleeps 11.

🏡 Little Bear
Newly renovated with panoramic mountain views, a private hot tub, and a dreamy loft. The one you’ll never want to leave. Sevierville. Sleeps 6.

🏡 Sunny View Cabin ✨ NEW
Brand new for June 2026. Sunny View is a newly renovated 1-bedroom, 1.5-bath romantic escape inside the gated Shagbark community in Sevierville. The name says it all: panoramic Smoky Mountain views from a hot-tub deck that faces the ridge, a double-sided gas fireplace shared between the living room and bedroom, an in-bedroom Jacuzzi tub for two, a pool table, and Shagbark community perks including a seasonal pool, enclosed dog park, walking trails, and disc golf. Sleeps 4. Dogs welcome — zero pet fees, always.

Visit Cruze Farm Sevierville

You don’t need to win the giveaway to get the ice cream. Here’s where to find them:

• Website: cruzefarm.com
• Location: 1642 Parkway, Sevierville, TN
• Hours: Sunday–Thursday 11 AM–9 PM | Friday–Saturday 11 AM–10 PM
• Instagram
• Facebook
• TikTok

Additional locations in Knoxville and Morristown — the gift voucher is redeemable at any of them.