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David Glass Interview
(Desserts by David Glass)
With names like The Ultimate Milk Chocolate Mousse Cake and The Ultimate
Key Lime Cheesecake you just have to know they’re-----the ultimate!!
And they are!!
Who makes such desserts you may ask?
The answer is David Glass, Founder of Desserts by David Glass.
Desserts by David Glass can be found in such retail stores as Zabar’s,
Stew Leonard’s, and Balducci’s, on selected Northwest Airlines
flights, as well as in the company’s catalog.
David Glass talked with us about his Ultimate Desserts.
Q – David, do you have a background in the food industry?
Are you a former baker? Chef? Restaurant owner?
A – Well, my background after I graduated from college in the U.S.-----I
went over to France to do some studying in my field which was Art History.
I kind of stumbled onto a restaurant that someone in Bordeaux had recommended
and it turned out to be a three star restaurant. I had a meal there that was
so incredible that I asked a guy if I could work for them for a couple of days
and wound up staying for a year; and then did some traveling around the world,
worked in restaurants around the world and came back and worked in another
three star restaurant in southern France. I did another little stint in Taiwan
and Tokyo restaurants. And that’s kind of my restaurant background. And
then I’ve worked in some pastry places and chocolate places and goat
cheese farms. So, I’ve kind of been around.
Q – So, how did you get the idea to start this dessert
co. of yours?
A- Well, I had this catering business when I came back from France and everybody
loved our desserts in addition to our food. We started producing cakes.
Q – Who is your competition?
A – I suppose anyone who makes any kind of sweets or desserts. Everybody’s
our competition.
Q – What did you have to do to get your products noticed?
Did you do a lot of advertising?
A – We’ve never advertised. We demo. We do a lot of promotional
stuff. We do a lot of off the wall stuff. We named one of our cakes after Sophia
Loren. We get a lot of publicity for stuff we do. I once delivered some cakes
to Nelson Mandela in South Africa for the Children’s Fund, ‘cause
we donate money to them. I flew them over on a commercial jet because I couldn’t
find a freight forwarder to bring them to him. So, we do weird stuff like that.
Q – When you name one of you cakes-----“The Ultimate
Sophia Loren Luscious Italian Almond Cake”-----do you need her approval?
A – We didn’t have it (her approval). We thought it would be such
an honor that she would like it, but, she didn’t . She sued us.
Q – How did she hear about it?
A – Well, they’re in the stores, so somebody ran across it, whether
it’s an agent or friend.
Q – And what happened?
A – Well, eventually we worked out an agreement where we sent her some
royalties and then at one point she decided she didn’t want to do it
anymore, so we did this thing on the internet where we challenged people to
re-name the Sophia Loren cake and win an all-expense paid trip to Hartford,
Conn. For a day and a meal cooked by me in my house and we came up with another
name.
Q – I would’ve thought that celebrities would
be honored to have a cake named after them.
A – Well, there’s one named after Albert Einstein, but, I don’t
hear much from him.
Q – Right. But remember, even dead celebrities have
agents.
A – I know, and I think I may have heard from him in my future ‘cause
he’s like a time traveler. So, I think I may run into him in my future.
Q – How’d you get this business of yours off the
ground? Did you have a financial banker? Did you get a bank loan? Did you
get a loan from your family or friends?
A – We started with a bank loan. It wasn’t a huge amount of money,
but, it got us going.
Q – Didn’t President Clinton try one of your cakes?
A – Oh yeah. We sent him and David Letterman. We send them around.
Q – Which cake did the President try?
A – I believe the Chocolate Truffle Cake.
Q – And David Letterman?
A – He tried Chocolate Mousse Balls which are like chocolate truffles.
Q – What other celebrities do you count as your customers?
A – Well, one of our customers is David Glass, who was the C.E.O. of
Wal-Mart. The reason that we got him as a customer is that we offered him our
same name discount. So, if you have the same name as me, you get a 15% discount.
That’s how he started.
Q – Your wife is also involved in the co?
A – Yeah. She’s involved in R and D (Research and Development).
Q – How did you convince these retail stores to carry
your product? Did you have to go around and make an in-person pitch?
A – It’s kind of half and half. In the beginning, yeah, we just
went around. But, other times people called us.
Q – How did you convince Northwest Airlines to carry
you product?
A – You know, I think someone from there called me. We do get lots and
lots of calls from places.
Q – Did you approach the other airlines as well?
A – Yeah. We approached everybody. All the airlines.
Q – Every dessert of yours is named “The Ultimate”.
Is that your patented trademark name?
A – Anybody who uses that has to go to jail for 5 years and pay a $2
million dollar fine.
Q – Kidding aside, can anyone else come along and say
we make the ultimate cheesecake?
A – So far, I haven’t tasted any that are really better than ours.
So, no I don’t think so. It is trademarked, yeah.
Offical Website: DavidGalss.com
© Gary James All Rights Reserved
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