Mistake leads to sweet success

PINE RIVER, Minn. — The U.G.L.Y. Cheesecake Co.’s founding story stands as proof that every mistake is an opportunity to learn and be creative.

It started when Jason Marcum and his business partner, Ryan Nelson, who owned and operated a barbecue restaurant that served customers in-house and catered, ordered one case of cream cheese rather than one pound. They received 30 pounds of product — 29 pounds more than they needed for the event.

“Ryan is a genius when it comes to food,” Marcum said. “He said he would think of something later (for the extra cream cheese) after we did (that) catering job.”

Both men had experience with restaurants and barbecue, but little with baking.

“A couple of days later, Ryan said, ‘I got it — I’m going to make cheesecake,’ to which I said, ‘OK, do you have a recipe?’” Marcum said. “He said, ‘No, but I know what’s in a cheesecake, so I can figure it out.’”

Ryan made that first cheesecake with the one and only springform pan they had.

“We thought we did everything right,” Marcum said. “We took it out of the oven and then immediately took it out of the springform pan. It slowly just melted all over the table. We said, ‘Oh no. But we have to go to this catering event, so we will worry about it later.’”

The two friends left for the catering event, and when they got back, they immediately went to investigate the cheesecake situation, only to find the cheesecake gone. Ryan asked the manager what happened to the cheesecake — the manager had eaten it.

“She said ‘Sorry, I had a spoonful here and there throughout my shift, and before I knew it, the cheesecake was gone,’” Marcum said. “We asked her how it was and she said, ‘It was really ugly, but if you can get it to set, you really got something there.’”

After a few attempts, Ryan was able to perfect his recipe, and the duo started selling cheesecake at their barbecue restaurant.

“We ended up selling more cheesecake than food,” Marcum said. “So, we flipped our license to become a full-time bakery.”

Marcum and Ryan started experimenting with different flavors, and, in 2018, the duo sold the restaurant and founded The U.G.L.Y. Cheesecake Co., which stands for Uncommonly Good, Light, Yet Cheesecake.

The U.G.L.Y. Cheesecake Co. offers 17 regular flavors on their menu. Some of the most popular flavors on the menu are turtle, white chocolate raspberry, salted caramel as well as the plain original. Seasonal flavors such as pumpkin swirl and peppermint swirl are also popular.

“At one time, we had 50 flavors,” Marcum said. “Now, we keep the list shorter for simplicity’s sake. Everything starts with the same base but then gets different add-ins.”

Earlier this year, Marcum and Ryan renovated their facility in Pine River to make room for more ovens to keep up with demand. Currently, they produce 60-90 cheesecakes per day. When renovations are complete they will be able to make 360 cheesecakes per day.

Ryan said they are using 25,000 pounds of cream cheese per year, but once their new ovens are operating, production will be ramped up to 125,000 pounds of cream cheese per year.

Customers do not need to drive to Pine River to taste one of the duo’s creations. The business sells wholesale, with deliveries to restaurants and shops across Minnesota.

Though The U.G.L.Y. Cheesecake Co. has a large presence in central Minnesota, it is operated by Marcum, Ryan and just three additional employees — one for deliveries and two for prepping, cooking and clean up.

Marcum and Ryan still hang onto their barbecue roots by making sandwiches at their shop. They offer one type of sandwich per day, selling about 40-60.

“We make our own bread for the sandwiches,” Marcum said. “We sell out almost every day. But the majority of our time is spent making cheesecake.”

The U.G.L.Y. Cheesecake Co. recycles egg shells by grinding them down and selling them as calcium carbonate for garden use. Marcum and Ryan are also experimenting with aluminum recycling, melting down the foil used to wrap the cheesecakes while they bake.

Behind their cheesecake shop, Marcum and Ryan have hydroponics and raised bed gardens, a fire pit, a seating area and workout equipment for customers to enjoy.

Even with all Marcum and Ryan have going on, cheesecake is always on their minds.

“We haven’t done any savory flavors, but that is something I am looking at for the future,” Marcum said.