Chuckanut Bay Foods

Cheesecake to die for

You know how some people get along with everyone? Cheesecake is like that. It's hard to dislike cheesecake. And when you find a locally-made, delicious cheesecake, there's no breaking you up.

Chuckanut Bay Foods, formerly Chuckanut Cheesecake, is just that perfect friend. Their cheesecakes are all natural, made with real ingredients you are familiar with and, if at all possible, from the Northwest. They are also kosher. Proud to represent the Northwest, Chuckanut lists their suppliers on their website so you know where the ingredients originate. As one of the owners, Matt Roth, says "We're GSFI (Global Food Safety Initiative) certified. GSFI is about continuous improvement of food safety management: highest food standards in manufacturing, recording, etc. For instance, with our packaging, we can track back each ingredient to the source for truly safe food."

Each cheesecake is unique. They are handmade by skilled bakers. All the fruit is swirled in by hand, they are each packaged by hand. No two cheesecakes look alike. "Our staff isn't just pressing buttons," says Matt. "We really believe in this. Our competition is all about who has the biggest machines. We think there's a market for handmade, natural foods. We still have to be price competitive, and we will pay more for local fruit and key ingredients like cream cheese."

Because they're small, they can be flexible. "If a customer wants us to create something for them, we can do it. Some will say 'if you make this, we'll buy it,' so we create the item. Others we partner with on specific flavors. They say what they want, we create it and they test/sample it to get feedback." They like to work with mid-size independent restaurants and retailers, yet as they grow, they are working with larger companies. They launched with Albertson's in April and Northwest Safeway stores at the end of May. They also work with Town & Country Markets, PCC, Whole Foods, QFC, and Haggen. "We're ingredient driven," explains Matt. "So we partner with groups who feel the same way. We look for people who want to be part of the community, even if they are large."

Some restaurants buy from Chuckanut and put their own name on the product. They also sell to casinos for buffets, and hospitals who love that they can serve it to most patients since it's natural, gluten free, and have one version with no added sugar.

All of this is great, but the product has to taste good. And this is where that likeable cheesecake piece comes in. It's delicious. They make 40+ flavors in various sizes. There are two-bite sizes, 1.75", that are great for trio dessert plates, caterers, and are served on Alaska Airlines international flights. There are 3" single servings (photo) that you can find in delis and that slide into the food service side: a pizza chain in California and sandwich shops. There are 5" and 7" cakes, the largest retail cake, and the one you see most often in groceries. They make a larger round cake, and an even larger sheet cake, popular with the aforementioned casino buffets.

Chuckanut Bay started 15 years ago with three partners. Eventually one bought the other two out. Matt was hired by that owner as a consultant to grow the business. He and a business partner, Dave Loeppky, were looking to buy a food business. This seemed like the one and the owner was ready to sell. They purchased it in 2008. "We liked the name Chuckanut Bay because so many ingredients come from the area and that's where we're located. But if you're unfamiliar with Chuckanut, it's meaningless. We may do other foods in our niche, like our tiramisu and fruit cake, so we added "Foods" to the name. For the first six months, I learned the business in and out. The recipe was great, but we wanted to make it all natural and real, and tell the story of this real place."

Chuckanut is family owned: Matt's wife Julie is the bookkeeper, Dave's wife Sharon does R&D and works with restaurants on proprietary items. "We have a very valuable team of employees who are involved side-by-side with us in growing this business." Matt worked for 20 years in the chocolate industry, then became a consultant and worked with the food industry. Dave was in the printing industry and is an engineer by trade.

L-R: Daniel, Matt, Julie, Thomas, Bradley, Mitch, Dave, Sharon, Steve, Cara, George

"Over the past six years, we've focused on doing this one thing really well. We added the tiramisu because customers were looking for something authentic with mascarpone and no icing. A grocery chain wanted the fruit cake. It's not natural like our other products, due to the red and green maraschino cherries, but we use lots of nuts. It's more like a spice cake, and we offer it just once a year."

Delicious products naturally-made by a Northwest company using Northwest ingredients; you've found your new best friend.

Chuckanut Bay Foods
5501 Hovander Rd, #1
Ferndale, WA 98248
360-380-1908
www.chuckanutbay.com

Connie Adams/July 2014