{"id":3126,"date":"2025-04-23T04:25:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T04:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/how-juniors-became-the-worlds-most-famous-name-in-cheesecake\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T04:25:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T04:25:56","slug":"how-juniors-became-the-worlds-most-famous-name-in-cheesecake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/how-juniors-became-the-worlds-most-famous-name-in-cheesecake\/","title":{"rendered":"How Junior’s Became the World’s Most Famous Name in Cheesecake"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n

\"Plain

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Plain Every Day Main photo courtesy of Junior\u2019s Restaurant & Bakery<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One morning in 1995, Alan Rosen, who owns Junior\u2019s<\/a>, the company that produces the iconic New York-style cheesecake, was driving to his Brooklyn restaurant when he heard on the radio that the home shopping channel QVC was hosting an event that day to find the country\u2019s best products to sell on its network. Undeterred to discover that all appointments were already filled, Rosen wheedled his way into securing one. \u201cYou won\u2019t be sorry,\u201d he cheekily promised the woman on the phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Junior\u2019s cheesecakes were ultimately one of 20 products chosen out of 4000. In Rosen\u2019s first appearance on QVC, he sold 2400 cheesecakes in approximately four-and-a-half minutes. He\u2019s on at least 15 times a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we had to ship them,\u201d recalls Rosen. \u201cMe and the UPS guy and anyone else who we could get to help us. We’re using tape guns on eight-foot tables and finishing up the packages at five o’clock at night while the truck was waiting on Flatbush Avenue for us to run up the stairs and load the truck. We were a little caught with our pants down, so to speak. But we got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Restaurant to Cheesecake Empire <\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n

\"Harry

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Harry Rosen_Sign photo courtesy of Junior\u2019s Restaurant & Bakery<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That spontaneous spirit and nimbleness have served Junior\u2019s well since its inception in 1950. From a single restaurant, now its flagship, in Brooklyn, New York, founded by Rosen\u2019s grandfather Harry, the company has grown into four separate businesses under the Junior\u2019s umbrella: five restaurants and outposts, mail order, wholesale, and a fledgling licensing operation with ready to eat food and Junior\u2019s merchandise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Rosen joined Junior\u2019s in 1993, he wanted to continue to invigorate the family business, then run by his father and uncle. He\u2019d always been taken with the restaurant business and fancied himself first and foremost a restaurateur, with belief and skills honed by his time at Cornell University\u2019s prestigious hotel school. But he says he just wanted to \u201cmake something successful and do it well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thought cheesecake, for which Junior\u2019s was already well-known, would be a good jumping-off point. Creamy, rich, and mellow, with a base of sponge cake, not graham cracker crumbs, the recipe was crafted by Harry Rosen and baker Eigel Peterson 73 years ago. Rosen vows to never change it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rosen says they use only Philadelphia brand cream cheese<\/a> (originally, Breakstone\u2019s, which was the same formula he says, was used until it was purchased by Philadelphia) and a repetitive process that involves machine and hand mixing to create their luscious cakes. He refuses to switch brands though the cost of cream cheese now \u201chas never been more expensive in the history of mankind,\u201d he says. \u201cI’ve always jokingly said to people, I’m not going to be the schmuck who messes this up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innovating: Product, Business, & Marketing <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Over the years, Junior\u2019s has created varieties like pumpkin, red velvet, and pineapple at the behest of QVC and retailers, and understanding that people like variety. However, plain and strawberry remain the best sellers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe basic building block of everything we do is that New York-style cheesecake,\u201d says Rosen. \u201cWe try and keep it simple because people sort of know what they want when they’re 10 feet away from the front door. I don’t want to go against that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosen first professionalized Junior\u2019s rudimentary mail-order business, a natural next step since customers who moved from Brooklyn to Florida started calling to place orders. He became an early adopter of direct marketing in the food sphere, buying lists from the few food mail-order companies that were around back then to send direct mail pieces and a new product catalog. Then came QVC.<\/p>\n

That exposure proved helpful in creating awareness. So did restaurants in commuter and tourist meccas with plenty of volume and foot traffic like New York City\u2019s Times Square, and across from the New York Marriott Marquis hotel.<\/p>\n

Lots of press and fun gimmicks like New York City mayors betting Junior\u2019s cheesecakes for sports championships and P. Diddy sending kids across the Brooklyn Bridge to pick up cheesecakes have also helped firmly propel Junior\u2019s to the firmament of New York City-cool culture.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Wholesale

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Wholesale Key Lime photo courtesy of Junior\u2019s Restaurant & Bakery<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rosen started getting calls from other restaurants and stores who wanted cheesecake. About six years ago, he bought and reconstructed a 103,000-square-foot bakery in southern New Jersey to wholly enter the wholesale business. It\u2019s taken off over the past 12-18 months, with a presence in over 8000 stores across the country including Costco, Krogers, and Stop & Shop. Rosen hopes to be in 15,000 by 2024.<\/p>\n

He’s also negotiating a lease in Las Vegas for his next restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Capitalizing on opportunities has proved a savvy strategy. \u201cWe’re not one of these companies that puts a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper and says, \u2018that’s where we’re going\u2019. We decide on doing something and we sort of go do it,\u201d says Rosen.<\/p>\n

He acknowledges the challenge to maintain quality and that family business feel while growing. \u201cWe use more of the same ovens,\u201d he says, adding that because the cheesecakes are a handmade product, he\u2019d consider automating processes, if necessary, only wherever it wouldn\u2019t affect quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try and create uniqueness in everything we do,\u201d explains Rosen. \u201cFor each one of our retailers, we deliver a special, special product. We are what we are, and we’re proud of it. We’re a family business and made it to the third generation. I’m gonna try not to screw it up, and maybe there’ll be a fourth generation coming along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosen\u2019s just being modest. Junior\u2019s sells 5 million cheesecakes a year and grosses over 100 million dollars annually. Rosen says he doesn\u2019t care about that though, a bit weary from the high costs of food and surviving the pandemic with closed restaurants. \u201cIf money was the goal, then I would change cream cheese. Quality is the goal,\u201d he says. \u201cThe exhaust of doing a good job hopefully should be that you make a living and grow a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

He appreciates Junior\u2019s longevity, ticking off facts: making cheesecake going on 73 years, being in the same location in Brooklyn for 72 years, having employees for 20, 30, and 40 years, appearing on QVC for 27 years. \u201cIt’s pretty amazing that we’re still delivering on our promise of this great Brooklyn comfort food and great cheesecake from our family to yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

And we’re not bored of it,\u201d declares Rosen. \u201cWe love it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plain Every Day Main photo courtesy of Junior\u2019s Restaurant & Bakery One morning in 1995, Alan Rosen, who owns Junior\u2019s, the company that produces the iconic New York-style cheesecake, was driving to his Brooklyn restaurant when he heard on the radio that the home shopping channel QVC was hosting an event that day to find … Okumaya devam et “How Junior’s Became the World’s Most Famous Name in Cheesecake”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}