Hard work, determination make pie-in-sky dream reality

There's nothing like the sweet taste of cheesecake, especially when it follows a good piece of fried chicken.

And at Popeye's Chicken, you can top dinner off with a cheesecake created by CAES alumna China Reed.

While working as a food scientist for Edwards Baking Company in Atlanta, Reed developed the Mardi Gras Cheesecake now served at more than 1,800 Popeye's restaurants.

During Reed's junior and senior years at Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, two summer science programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign led her to enroll in the college of agriculture there.

"I loved science as a child and always knew I wanted to be a scientist and wear a white lab coat," she said. "Then, during one of my first freshman classes, I watched a video promoting careers in agriculture. As soon as I saw the scientists who developed Jelly Belly jelly beans working on all those vibrantly colored candies and wearing white lab coats, I fell in love with product development."

With her undergraduate degree in food science, Reed studied European agriculture in Toulouse, France. After returning stateside, she completed a culinary internship at Westgate Lake Resorts in Orlando, Fla.

Then came UGA. "I knew I needed to work with someone I could learn from and someone who didn’t mind answering my questions," she said. "I wanted someone who was going to be very supportive and encouraging."

Reed found all those qualities in CAES professor Rob Shewfelt.

Completing her master's at CAES in 1998, she went to Best Foods in Somerset, N.J. There she helped develop Knorr's Taste Breaks Red Bean Chili and Skippy Double Delicious peanut butter, which incorporated Nestle Crunch pieces and Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips.

In 2000, Reed moved to Edwards Baking, where she developed the Popeye's cheesecake and a Snickers cheesecake for Bob Evans Restaurants.

Four years later, Reed started Uniquely Yours Consulting. "I needed a new challenge in my life," she said. "I knew starting my own business would be a risk. But it was a risk I was willing to take."

She has since created customized desserts for Fresh Market, Zaxby's, Church's Chicken and others, a lemon pie for Kenny's Key Lime Pies and several soups for Georgia Spice Company.

Reed keeps up her UGA connection. She often returns to campus to speak in food science classes, judge 4-H projects and help with classroom assignments.

She looks forward to someday launching "a product that will be long-term and long-lasting," she said. "I want to be associated with this product and be awarded along with those who have helped me."

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