Nasto’s Celebrates 75 Years

Nasto's is a third generation family business that is synonymous with Newark. Founded in 1939,the Nasto's family began making homemade ice cream and Italian style ices. With 9 children to help out, Frank Nasto, Sr. never had an issue with staffing. The oldest sons, Al & Frank Jr. took over the business and helped blossom Nasto's into both a retail and wholesale operation. Frank Jr.'s son, Frank Nasto III, who has been working there all his life, is the current president and is overseeing the exciting future growth of Nasto's.



After spending some time with Frank III - it was clear that the story of Nasto's was more than a business spotlight, but a business class, teaching the lessons on how to run a SUCCESSFUL family business. Below are some of the lessons to learn from Nasto's:

If it ain't broke, why fix it.
Nasto's takes pride in using original, authentic recipes that were handed down from Frank Sr.'s native Nocera, Italy. They also use a small dairy farm in PA that makes milk according to their recipe. Nasto's takes pride in only use the highest quality ingredients. Frank III also notes that Newark's water has been a key to making the taste so great!



Keep up with technology.
Although some things remain the same, technology isn't one of them. Nasto's uses modern equipment and state of the art production techniques in their facilities to churn out 2000 gallons of ice cream a day during peak season.

Know your customer.
The family is always looking for new flavors and products to develop to keep their customers happy. At their retail location in the Ironbound, many Brazilian customers came in asking if they made sweet corn ice cream. So Frank III got to work and tested and tested to get the right taste - all without ever tasting this sweet corn flavor. Sweet corn is now a local favorite and receives rave reviews. Other new flavors that have been recently added are Holy Canoli and Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel.



Diversify Revenue Streams.
Although Ice cream might be the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions Nasto's - they actually have a complete dessert line that includes Tartufo, Tiramisu, Gelatos, Sorbet, Ice Cream Cakes and more. This a great array that appeals to their commercial clientele of restaurants, hotels and caterers in the tri-state area.

Plan for the future.
As Nasto's keeps on expanding their customer commercial base - they need more space and they will be expanding their current facility by doubling their freezer capacity, which will undergo construction this year. Nasto's also looks to expand their brand beyond Newark's borders and have more retail locations.



Celebrate Nasto's successes and their future! Nasto's will be hosting a 75th Anniversary Celebration this year on June 14, 2014. There will be a dj, facepainter, and even roll back pricing on lemon ice and vanilla ice cream sold for just a nickel!

 

Nasto's Old World Desserts

236 Jefferson Street, Newark
973-589-3333
http://nastosicecream.com/
Hours: Mon-Sat 8am-8pm; Sun 11:30am-7pm