John Morgan is the driven man behind Queen Charlotte’s Pimento Cheese Royale.
Some people say that the most difficult part of figuring out your purpose, is knowing exactly what you want. John Morgan, graphic designer, teacher, pimento cheese maker, has many purposes, and he believes that with the proper motivation and fervor he can accomplish them all and more. Fortunately for us, Queen Charlotte’s Pimento Cheese Royale is on his immediate to-do list.
To help us navigate through the flavors, John broke it down for us. For a pimento cheese sandwich, you gotta go with the original. I think the jalapeño is my favorite with chips or crackers. Heat it up for an awesome dip. His Blue cheese pimento is a great burger topper and warmed up goes great with chicken wings. The bacon is probably the most decadent, it truly goes with everything.
Royale pimento cheese flavors are showing up everywhere around town, teaming up with grocers, like Reids fine foods and local breweries. In just a year, his cheese is now being sold to over thirty accounts in three different states. I feel like people are seeing the versatility of our stuff and that the possibilities are endless. John adds that he puts his cheese on sandwiches, grits, eggs, biscuits, and macaroni and cheese.
Moving to Charlotte at the tender age of 5, John grew up a proud Charlottean, which carried into his future projects; starting with the We Bee-lieve: Charlotte take back your Hornets campaign in 2010, a pro bono project fueled by pure fandom to bring the Charlotte Hornets professional basketball team name back to Charlotte. The success of this project gave John the experience and confidence to start researching a new project: packaging his beloved pimento cheese recipe. Financing his new project with his winnings on Jeopardy!, no experience in a kitchen other than his own, and no feedback other than that of his family and friends, John Morgan dove in head first, but not blindly and certainly not without a good plan. I spent two years methodically plotting every aspect of our company. In spite of all of that, we still face curve-balls on a daily basis. You cant predict the future, but you can be ready for most of what it throws your way if you plot things out in advance.
Although not new to the world of business, John Morgan found himself thrown into the Charlotte culinary scene as a self proclaimed novice. Luckily, he was accepted with open arms. Charlotte has embraced the heck out of us. The support, the sense of community, the sense of personal and professional fulfillment…its been the best case scenario.
Though Queen Charlotte Pimento Cheese Royale has been relishing in almost immediate success, John still works his day job as a school teacher, loving both endeavors equally. It seems as though he lives the life of many, often struggling with balancing work and personal life. Good for him he has the support of his parents Eddie and Marlene Morgan, and his fiancee, Myers McKenzie.
With no signs of slowing down, John Morgan has much to look forward to and big goals for his pimento cheese.
I want Queen Charlotte to be as ubiquitous as a bottle of Heinz. I want the Charlotte skyline and all of the Carolinian iconography of our labels in refrigerators from Maine to Tijuana. It will be a complete pimento cheesification of the universe.
At the rate he is going, it should not be long. To learn more about John Morgan and his Pimento Cheese Royale, visit www.qccheese.com or visit them on facebook or instagram @QCCheeseRoyale.
