Today we’d like to introduce you to Philip Messer.
Hi Philip, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started making fudge around the year 2000, just for family, and just for the holidays. It was only 3 flavors at that time: dark chocolate, dark chocolate marshmallow, and dark chocolate rocky road — the initial dark chocolate recipe was from the inside of a ghirardelli baking bar wrapper and it was as simple as melting ingredients together in a double boiler.
It wasn’t until around 2017 that I had an idea spark. I was in grad school at Rollins College, working for Disney at Disney Springs, and I saw something I thought was missing in the marketplace. I’m a Florida kid, born and raised in rural North Florida (Monticello) where you’re exposed to Florida produce like watermelon, peanuts, corn, and so much more. So, I’m familiar with Florida produce, what makes Florida unique, and what flavors make people think “Florida”. Yet, the fudge I saw at Disney Springs was very basic: milk chocolate, peanut butter, cookies & cream, milk chocoate peanut butter, and usually a milk chocolate with a nut of some kind and that was it.
I was wondering where Florida flavors were; here we were living in the number one tourist destination in the world and so many flavors are missing from the theme parks. It was at this time that I began working on a key lime fudge, got it to the texture and flavor I thought I wanted, took it home to share with the family for my dad’s birthday that year, and an idea for Uncle Phil’s Fudge began to gain traction.
It was in March of 2018 that Uncle Phil’s Fudge was founded. I had maybe 5 flavors in production at that point, with designs on so many more. Over time I worked on more flavors, more varities, and more types. To date I have developed about 75 fudge flavors from the traditional milk chocolate, maple, and peanut butter to more unique dark chocolate cuban espresso, dulce de leche, and key lime to a handful of vegan options — and every single one is my own recipe. And, I’m not done; I have roughly 50 more flavors and flavor combinations I want to develop.
We’ve grown from that initial offering of 5 flavors to routinely having 30 flavors in production (6 of those vegan), primarily focusing on Florida, tropical, or southern flavors to complement the usual expected flavors. We’re always highlighting Florida, whether it is Strawberries & Cream Fudge that uses Plant City strawberries, or Blueberry Fudge using berries grown in the Eustis area. Key Lime Fudge uses Nellie & Joe’s key lime juice, which is Florida’s original bottler of the juice from their facility in Key West. Dark Chocolate Cuban Espresso highlights the Cuban influence in the State. Creamsicle harkens back to the miles and miles of orange trees we used to drive by when we would take family vacations to Orlando. Pecans are my nut of choice as my childhood home’s neighborhood was once a pecan grove and we had 5 of those trees around the yard. I’ve even made a Piña Colada Fudge that I hope to soon perfect.
During the first year Mrs. Uncle Phil and I were operating from our pop-up tent we came into contact with so many people who had dairy allergies and other food intolerances, I took the time during the covid shutdown to begin working on animal-free options. At this time we are the only maker of vegan fudge in Florida; those dairy and egg-free options have been a small passion project of mine ever since. At this point we even have several flavors that are absent of all 9 major allergens.
Today you can find us around the greater Orlando area at craft fairs and festivals, conventions, and local cultural events plus online at unclephilsfudge.com. We’ve been as far south as West Palm, up to Ocala, and over to Melbourne. But, our stretch goal is to one day have a 100 flavor fudge shop at Disney Springs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think whether it’s been a smooth road depends on how a person approaches challenges. This entire venture has been a lot of problem solving little things along the way.
For example, the first time I doubled my recipe for key lime seemed to turn out ok. But when we took it to our first ever event it fell apart. I wish this was the last time I was not happy with how a fudge turned out, but it’s not. Key Lime has gone through roughly 20 versions before I finally liked the final product.
Mind you, I am not a trained chocolatier, chef, or similar. My cooking skills were learned at the Univeristy of Mom’s Kitchen. So, to say there has been much learned through trial and error at the stove is not understating the struggle of developing your own recipes. Sure, I could have bought fudge already made from other companies and resold them, but that just much too easy for me.
A Florida cottage business (Uncle Phil’s Fudge) in 2018 had roadblocks to offering samples. We weren’t allowed to ship, and our annual revenue was limited to $50,000. If we made wood signs, turned spoons into sculptures, or some other crafted work then those limitations didn’t exist. Thankfully, post-Covid, the Florida legislature made changes and we exited the pandemic with a much higher maximum revenue limit ($250,000), we could offer samples with common sense regulations, and we could ship our fudge across the USA.
Being largely an event-based business versus being a brick & mortar, it can be frustrating to know you had performed well at an event this year only to see it change the event dates next year to a weekend that you’re typically already booked with a different event — and double-booking isn’t that simple when you’re the only fudgemaker in the house.
The 24/7 challenge is how to do this most efficiently. Packing the 4runner efficiently, obtaining ingredients efficiently, cutting and packaging the fudge efficiently, finding events that are worth the effort.
But, insane Florida heat at outdoor markets, or weather that would rip your pop-up tent away if you weren’t hanging onto it are probably the largest challenges that don’t really have a solution you can control.
Being willing to change how you do what you do or what you make, having a desire to improve the flavor or the texture. It’s tiring, it’s mentally taxing, it can seem monotonous. But, when you see the smile that comes across the face of a little one. Or, when a guy gives me a hug because he so loved the fudge he sampled. That. That is what it’s all about. Those reactions are the fuel and help make any obstacle so very small.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I cut my teeth in big box retail management with J.C. Penney. My favorite part was finding underrepresented brands or categories and building them which I did with the Columbia brand, women’s small leather goods, and men’s shorts for examples. But that was half a lifetime ago. Thankfully, though, there are so many things I learned so when I have that eventual brick & mortar I know what kind of leader I will be.
I can cook, I can bake, I can throw ingredients together and make something tasty. But fudge is the thing I found that is my jam (pun intended). The comments i get when people taste a sample are usually about the flavor and how spot on it is. This past August we were at a celebrity con in Orlando when a young fella from Jacksonville tried a couple samples and you would have thought he had found the Holy Grail. He first asked if he could shake my hand, and then he asked for a hug. This was the most awesome response I have ever had to someone tasting my fudge!
What sets me apart from the competition, whoever the competition is, is the quality of ingredients. It’s not just that I use Ghirardelli for my chocolates, it’s the sugar instead of corn syrup. It’s not cutting corners or going cheap on ingredients. It’s avoiding artifical flavoring when possible. The key lime has key lime juice, the maple has maple syrup, chocolate hazelnut uses Nutella, the peanut butter is Jif, the pumpkin pie uses pumpkin and not an artificial flavor. This makes a difference, not only in flavor but in texture and shelf life.
What does success mean to you?
Success comes in many different ways beyond the dollars:
That hug from the guy at Fanboy Expo.
There was a young lady who took a sample of my Creamy Peanut Butter at the Mount Dora Village Market. She said she’d stop by after taking a boat ride on Lake Dora. But she turned right around after tasting the sample and said it tasted just like her grandpa’s fudge.
Watching nostaglia flash across the face of someone when they taste the Creamsicle. Or when British tourists taste the Dark Chocolate Orange and it reminds them of Terry’s Chocolate Orange (a British confection from York).
When folks approach our pop-up at an event and are so happy to find us (if we’re in a different spot than before), and tell us they came just for us, or were afraid we weren’t there.
Or there’s that person who hasn’t had fudge in years because they developed an allergy to milk and discovered we have vegan flavors available.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.unclephilsfudge.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unclephilsfudge
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unclephilsfudge
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uncle-phil’s-fudge-a77908385
