November 20th 2023.
Matthew Featherstone and his business partner, Mr. Wiles, are the founders of the Hiatus Cheesecake company, and the two of them have created some of the best desserts you'll find anywhere.
This past August, Mr. Featherstone worked hard at the Bmore Kitchen in northeast Baltimore to complete the 10,000 cheesecakes that were ordered. It was a milestone that had been years in the making, as Matt's journey began baking desserts with his mother in his youth. He then went on to the restaurant industry, seeing an opportunity to offer gourmet desserts to upscale restaurants.
"With Hiatus Cheesecake, we aimed to provide high-end restaurants with a gourmet dessert option that perfectly complements their upscale menus," said Mr. Featherstone.
The delicious desserts have become very popular, with even Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and first lady Dawn Moore being fans. Recently, Hiatus Cheesecake secured a contract to supply cheesecakes to cafes and cafeterias at Johns Hopkins Hospital, as well as being one of the five firms to win the national Kroger "Go Fresh, Go Local" competition. The cheesecakes can now be found in 17 Kroger supermarkets in the mid-Atlantic region, and they plan to expand to 1,200 stores in the future.
They also won the pitch competition at Baltimore Homecoming Crab Tank, receiving a $25,000 prize, and will soon be competing in the national pitch competition for Dessert Wars in Atlanta. All of this has been possible due to the support that Matt and Mr. Wiles have received. This includes mentorship for Matt from a restaurateur he had once worked for, as well as support from UPS.
The two of them have been a part of the UPS Ignite Program since 2022, which they credit as a great source of knowledge for founders. Plus, UPS has also provided their supply chain expertise to Hiatus Cheesecake.
"We have partnered with UPS Transportation Management Solutions to facilitate the delivery process between our commercial kitchen in Baltimore and the distribution center of our distributor located just outside of Charlotte," said Mr. Wiles.
The duo has also collaborated with UPS to help other product-based businesses by connecting them to the essential relationships they need to acquire the knowledge necessary to scale.
UPS is actively looking for more dynamic founders for its next cohort, and it's one of many ways they are working to empower Black founders. If you're interested in learning more about dedicated programs for minority founders, please visit www.about.ups.com/diversebusiness.
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