MANCHESTER, Conn. — Teresa Sharpe is the single mom behind what is a mom-and-pop baking startup.
Sharpe began The Manchester Cheesecake Company in 2020, a challenging time to take her idea to the public.
Sharpe was always fond of creating various styles of cheesecake and she said of her venture, “I lost my job, and I figured if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.”
These days, Sharpe and assistant baker Ricky Assid work out of a small wholesale operation on a Manchester back lot creating around 40 varieties of cheesecakes that more and more customers are enjoying.
“These are all handmade, just all passion, we try to keep everything scratch-made," Assid said.
“For me, it’s doing something that I love and being able to bring smiles to peoples’ faces," Shape added.
Each cheesecake is the personal variety – four inches in diameter and packaged in a decorative brown cardboard box.
Sharpe sells her Manchester Cheesecakes at farmers' markets and small supermarkets plus at restaurants like Rein's Deli. Right now, Manchester Cheesecake sells wholesale, but Sharpe is hoping to open a storefront down the road.
They had a storefront on Main Street in Manchester but closed it to focus on wholesale.
“We have grown drastically…being able to do what I love is the best part and I get to share that," Sharpe said.
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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