Singapore and Saipan. Italy and India. Korea and Colombia. Paul Logan has worked in 30-plus countries, in positions as diverse as the locations. He was an engineering officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine for a decade before, among other jobs, he managed a private investment fund, designed energy-efficient systems for companies, oversaw renovation projects for a portfolio of residential properties and made soups from scratch as the owner of a 36-seat café.
Today, Logan is having the time of his life as the “Uncle” of Uncle’s Ice Cream Sandwiches, which wholesales its sweet treats to 150 retailers on the Mainland and close to 200 statewide, including Foodland, Whole Foods and ABC stores. The company’s scrumptious sammies also delight attendees at special events such as weddings, birthday parties and corporate gatherings.
Among the 15 regular flavors are ube ice cream and sugar cookies, chai latte and snickerdoodles and North Shore coffee and dark chocolate cookies. The sandwiches come in classic (six ounce) and mini (two ounce) sizes, some featuring “go-the-extra-mile” ingredients such as real lemon zest; freshly baked apple pie and berry crisps; and caramel, fudge or banana sauces crafted in-house.
Logan’s path to Uncle’s was circuitous. He was born in Gary, Indiana, but lived there for just two weeks before his family moved to Colorado Springs for his dadʻs work. They lived there for five years, then settled in Hawaiʻi in 1961.
“Dad had a three-year contract to be principal of Trinity Lutheran School there, but they kept extending it, so he stayed for 20 years,” Logan said. “Then he was principal of Our Savior Lutheran School in ʻAiea for another 20 years until he retired in 2000.”
When he was a young boy, Logan remembers pineapple fields dominated the landscape in Wahiawā, and the town itself was small and safe. On weekends, he, his sister and two brothers would be out all day, playing with friends.
“We’d go fishing on Lake Wilson, and we built a treehouse in our neighbor’s massive mango tree that was probably an OSHA nightmare,” Logan said. “By the late 1960s, Wahiawā had grown because the Vietnam War was in full swing. Many of our classmates’ dads or moms were stationed at Schofield Barracks. Sometimes, tanks would roll up California Avenue because the Army was conducting field exercises above town. Wahiawā was the only place in Hawai‘i where that happened.”
Immediately after graduating from Leilehua High School in 1974, Logan headed to the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. During half of his sophomore year and half of his junior year, he trained on ships all around the world. Stops during his first shipboard assignment included Asia and the Philippines. His next ship went along the west coast of South America, and his third ship went through the Suez Canal to Europe.
“Not many college students have those kinds of experiences as part of their education,” Logan said. “Travel was a big part of my job after I graduated. Sometimes we were in and out of a port so fast, we really didn’t get to see it, but one time we were supposed to pick up oil in Corinth, and there was a strike at the refinery. Because we were there for three weeks, waiting for it to end, we were able to see amazing places all over Greece, including the Acropolis. Can you imagine me, a naïve 20-year-old from Wahiawā, being in Athens?”
Barbara, Logan’s wife of 40 years, has shared all his post-Merchant Marine ventures and adventures. Among them: surviving a super typhoon in Saipan with their two-month-old son; going weeks in the winter without seeing the sun in Victoria, British Columbia, where their daughter was born; and renovating a 200-year-old chateau near Verviers, Belgium, from which they could hop on a train and be in Aachen, Germany, or Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 30 minutes.
In 2011, the family returned to Hawai‘i so Logan could help care for his dad, whose health was declining. Wanting to keep busy during his spare time, Logan joined his older brother’s lettuce business.
“I built a hydroponic farm in Hale‘iwa and took over the growing, harvesting and cleaning of eight kinds of lettuce,” he said. “My brother distributed it to restaurants on the North Shore, and Barbara and I sold the extra at the farmers market in Waimea Valley.”
In addition to produce and crafts, vendors at the market were selling an array of ‘ono food, but no one was offering desserts. The couple thought ice cream sandwiches could fill the void: People could hold a sandwich with one hand while they carried their shopping bag with the other. Thus, Uncle’s Ice Cream Sandwiches was born in 2013. Initially, there were six flavors, among them liliko‘i, which Logan was growing at his farm.
“The first week, we brought 20 sandwiches and sold out,” he said. “The next week, we brought 30, and they also sold out. People were taking selfies with our sandwiches. Then businesses started asking if we could wholesale them.”
Within a year, the ice cream business was bringing in more money than the lettuce. Realizing they couldn’t do both, the Logans decided to sell the farm and focus on Uncle’s.
Barbara manages the finances, and Logan oversees production and creates the flavors. “Every weekend, I’m in our commercial kitchen in Waialua, testing recipes,” he said. “I’m always looking for new ideas. When we’re on vacation, I go to every ice cream shop in the area to see what they’re doing.”
In 2023, the Logans opened a factory in Las Vegas, which handles customers on the Mainland. Two years later, they introduced Hanabi (“fireworks” in Japanese) Burnt Cheesecake, which has a caramelized exterior and comes in five regular flavors: ube, guava, cookie butter, blood orange and classic (the original, infused with vanilla). Logan is currently developing a healthier line of ice cream that’s low fat, high protein, probiotic and prebiotic with no added sugar.
“I’ve had an unconventional, very interesting life,” he said. “Everything has not gone perfectly, but I’ve been truly blessed. A big freezer at our home is filled with ice cream, some of it experiments. Everyone who comes for dinner knows what they’re going to get for dessert!”
National Ice Cream Day is celebrated annually on the third Sunday in July (this year, it’s July 19). A list of stores that sell Uncle’s Ice Cream Sandwiches is at unclesicecream.com. Find fans’ innovative flavor ideas and post your own at unclesicecream.com/dream-machine.
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