Schwan Food Company

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The Schwan Food Company is a multibillion-dollar privately owned company with 22,000 employees worldwide. Based in Marshall, Minnesota, the company sells frozen foods from home-delivery trucks, in grocery-store freezers, by mail and to the foodservice industry. The company produces, markets, and distributes products developed under brands such as Schwan's, Red Baron, Freschetta, Tony's, Mrs. Smith's, Edwards, Asian Sensations and many others.

Schwan products are sold in nearly fifty countries; manufacturing facilities are located in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Canada.

1 Corporate divisions
2 Company history
- 2.1 Salmonella recall
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Corporate divisions

The company's major business units include Schwan's Home Service, Global Consumer Brands, Global Food Service, and Global Supply Chain.

Schwan's Home Service, the company's flagship business unit, is the largest direct-to-home food delivery provider in the United States. Home Service markets and distributes more than 400 products under the Schwan's and Impromptu Gourmet brands. The business has nearly 500 sales-and-distribution centers located throughout the nation with 6,700 propane-powered delivery vehicles.

Schwan's Global Consumer Brands is a holding company for the various Schwan businesses that market frozen foods in grocery stores throughout the United States and Europe. Schwan's Global Food Service is a holding company that markets and distributes frozen food products to the foodservice industry. Schwan's Global Supply Chain is a manufacturing cooperative that coordinates the company's production processes.

[edit] Company history

In 1952, Marvin Schwan began home delivery of his family's homemade ice cream to rural western Minnesota. Schwan's expanded quickly to cover much of the Midwestern United States and made a number of acquisitions, including the Holiday Ice Cream Company and Russell Dairy. In 1957, the product line was expanded to include juice concentrates, and in 1962 Schwan's began selling frozen fish products. During the 1970s, the company began selling pizza to schools, launched the Red Baron pizza brand for sale in grocery stores, and formed the Red Baron Squadron flight team to promote the Red Baron brand. The Red Baron Squadron is the oldest civilian air team in the country. During the 1980s, Schwan's made further acquisitions, including pizza manufacturer Sabatasso Foods and Asian-foods manufacturer Minh Food Corporation. Schwan's opened a plant in Leyland, England in 1989.

In 1993, founder Marvin Schwan died of a heart attack at the age of 64. His older brother, Alfred Schwan, who had been company's head of manufacturing, was named president.

[edit] Salmonella recall

In October 1994, the Minnesota Department of Health informed the Schwan Food Company that 67 people in southern Minnesota had been infected with salmonella enteritidis and that there was a strong statistical link between the illnesses and Schwan's ice cream. Schwan quickly halted the production and sale of the company's ice cream and began a public-awareness campaign asking people not to eat Schwan's ice cream products. An investigation found that the source of the contamination was a contractor's truck that had delivered ice cream premix to Schwan. The trucking company had inadequately washed the tanker truck after transporting raw, unpasteurized eggs.^[1] Schwan's actions in response to the recall were somewhat unique at the time and have since been imitated by companies facing recalls.

In 1996, Schwan's introduced the Freschetta pizza line and acquired La Roue du Pay d'auge, a frozen foods producer in France. In 1998, Schwan's opened a pizza plant in Osterweddingen, Germany. In 2001, Schwan's acquired the Edwards desserts company. In 2003, the corporation changed its name from Schwan's Sales Enterprises to The Schwan Food Company and acquired Mrs. Smith's desserts company.