Schwan's Company

Last updated
Schwan's Company
Company type Subsidiary
IndustryFrozen food
Founded1952;72 years ago (1952)
FounderMarvin Schwan
Headquarters Marshall, Minnesota, USA
Revenue$3.0 billion
Number of employees
8,500
Parent CJ CheilJedang (80%)
Website www.schwanscompany.com

Schwan's Company, formerly known as The Schwan Food Company, is a food company with approximately 8,500 employees. It originated in the United States as a family-owned business and in 2019 became a subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang of South Korea.

Contents

Schwan's Company's former subsidiary, Schwan's Home Service, rebranded as Yelloh in 2022, remained a privately-held, independent entity owned and operated by the Schwan family. Yelloh, which traced back to the Schwan's home delivery business launched by Marvin Schwan in 1952, sold frozen foods from home delivery trucks, in 13 states. In November 2024, it shut down its operations. [1]

Schwan's Company continues to be widely known for its consumer brands, including Freschetta Pizza, Tony's Frozen Pizza, Mrs. Smith's Pies , Edwards Frozen Pies, Pagoda Egg Rolls, and Red Baron Pizza. The company also sells products to the food-service industry.

Corporate divisions

The company, as a subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang, has the following major business units:

Company history

In 1952, Marvin Schwan (1929–1993) began home delivery of his family's homemade ice cream (Schwan's Dairy and Dairy Lunch) to rural western Minnesota. [2] Schwan's expanded to cover 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 brand. [3] 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, Preston, England in 1989. In 1990, Schwans started Schwans Canada, with an ice cream plant in Manitoba and routes in Saskatchewan and Alberta, but they ceased operations in December 1999.

In 1993, founder Marvin Schwan died of a heart attack at the age of 64. [4] The Marvin Schwan Memorial Drive in Marshall is named after him. His older brother, Alfred Schwan, who had been the company's head of manufacturing, was named president.

In October 1994, the Minnesota Department of Health informed the company that 67 people in southern Minnesota had been infected with salmonella enteritis 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 pre-mix to Schwan's. The trucking company had inadequately washed the tanker truck after transporting raw, unpasteurized eggs. [5]

In 1996, Schwan's introduced the Freschetta pizza line [6] and acquired La Roue du Pays d'Auge, a frozen foods producer in France. [7] In 1998, Schwan's opened a pizza plant in Osterweddingen, Germany. In 2001, Schwan's acquired the Edwards dessert company from Ripplewood Holdings, and in 2003, the Mrs. Smith's dessert company from Flowers Foods. Also in 2003, the corporation changed its name from Schwan's Sales Enterprises to The Schwan Food Company.

In 2010, Schwan's teamed up with the TV series Top Chef and served dishes that were made famous by chefs that were featured on the Bravo television series. [8]

In February 2019, the company announced it had completed the sale of 80% of the privately-held company's stock to CJ CheilJedang of South Korea, effectively ending the Schwan family's control of the company. Most of Schwan's continued to exist as a subsidiary of CJ, but the Schwan family retained 100% of the ownership of Schwan's Home Delivery Service. [9]

In March 2022, Schwan's Home Delivery announced that it was rebranding as Yelloh, a reference to the color of its trucks. [10] As of October 2023, Yelloh has been operated by Cygnus Home Service, LLC, [11] which is independently owned by members of the Schwan family. [12] On September 23, 2024, Yelloh announced that the company would cease operations on November 8, 2024, citing "insurmountable business challenges". [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall, Minnesota</span> City in Minnesota, United States

Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,628 at the 2020 census, and 13,906 as of 2023 estimates. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota, and the county seat of Lyon County. It is the headquarters of the Schwan Food Company and the home of Southwest Minnesota State University.

CJ CheilJedang Corporation is a South Korean international food company based in Seoul that manufactures food ingredients, ambient, frozen and chilled packaged food products, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Its brands include Beksul, Bibigo, Gourmet and Hatbahn. Bibigo is well-known for Mandu in the global market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breyers</span> Ice cream brand

Breyers is an ice cream and frozen dessert brand with headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Founded in 1866, it is one of the oldest ice cream companies in the United States. Since 1993, Breyers has been owned and managed by the British conglomerate, Unilever.

Wells Enterprises, Inc. is an American food company and is the largest family-owned and managed ice cream manufacturer in the United States, based in Le Mars, Iowa. It is the maker of Blue Bunny ice cream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braum's</span> American restaurant chain

Braum's Inc. is an American chain of ice cream parlor and fast food restaurants. Based in Oklahoma City, Braum's was founded in 1968 by William Henry "Bill" Braum in Oklahoma City. The company operates over 300 restaurants in 5 states, primarily in the Southern United States, namely the West South Central states of Oklahoma and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totino's</span> American brand of frozen pizza

Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kraft Foods Inc.</span> Defunct American food and beverage company

Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. Twelve of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oreo, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, and Tang. Forty of its brands were at least a century old.

Oberweis Dairy, headquartered in North Aurora, Illinois, is the parent company of several dairy-related and fast food restaurant operations in the midwest region of the United States. Its businesses include a home delivery service available in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, which delivers traditional dairy products, including milk, ice cream, cheese, and yogurt, as well as bacon and seasonal products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwik Trip</span> Midwestern convenience store and gas station chain

Kwik Trip is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965 that has locations throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan under the name Kwik Trip, and in Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota under the name Kwik Star, although the Dixon, Illinois, location operates as Kwik Trip. The company also operates stores under the name Tobacco Outlet Plus, Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery, Hearty Platter, Kwik Spirits, and Stop-N-Go. Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJ Group</span> South Korean conglomerate holding company

CJ Group (Korean: 씨제이) is a South Korean conglomerate holding company, operating internationally. It is one of the largest chaebol headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous businesses in various industries of food and food service, logistics, pharmaceutics and biotechnology, entertainment and media, Pager and Telephone. CJ Group was originally a branch of Samsung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hershey Creamery Company</span> American pre-packaged ice cream and cold dessert maker

Hershey Creamery Company, also known as Hershey's Ice Cream, is an American creamery that produces ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt, and other frozen desserts such as smoothies and frozen slab-style ice cream mixers. It was founded by Jacob Hershey and four of his brothers in 1894 and taken over by the Holder family in the 1920s. The company was one of the first to offer consumers pre-packaged ice cream pints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DiGiorno</span> Brand name of frozen pizza by Nestlé

DiGiorno is a brand of frozen pizzas sold in the United States, and is a subsidiary of Nestlé. In 2023, Nestle discontinued sales of Delissio pizzas in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choco Taco</span> Ice cream novelty previously made by Good Humor-Breyers

Choco Taco was a Good Humor-Breyers ice cream novelty resembling a taco. It consisted of a disk of waffle cone material folded to resemble a hard taco shell, reduced-fat vanilla ice cream, artificially flavored fudge, peanuts, and a milk chocolate coating. The Choco Taco was marketed under the Klondike brand as "The Original Ice Cream Taco".

SmithFoods is a regional maker of dairy products, beverages, and ice cream headquartered in Orrville, Ohio. The company sells products under two major brands, Smith's and Ruggles, as well as private label brands, for both retail and wholesale distribution.

Cold Storage is a Singaporean multinational supermarket company currently owned by DFI Retail Group. Its parent company also operates Market Place stores, now branded as Cold Storage Fresh, as well as the Giant hypermarket brand, and has various other supermarkets around Asia including Hero and Wellcome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemps (company)</span> American dairy company

Kemps is an American dairy company located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. It has been a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America since being purchased in 2011 from HP Hood LLC. Dairy Farmers of America is based in Kansas City, Missouri, but Kemps continues to be headquartered in St. Louis Park. Products provided by the company include milk, cottage cheese, half and half, egg nog, cream, juices, sour cream, chip dips, ice cream, yogurt and novelties. Most of these products are sold at grocery stores throughout the midwestern United States, but some are available in other parts of the country as well. Kemps currently operates five manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJ Foodville</span> South Korean food company

CJ Foodville is a South Korean western-style food and food service company based in Seoul that does catering service. CJ Foodville is a subsidiary of CJ Group.

Minor Food Group is one of three subsidiary businesses under Minor International. It is one of the largest restaurant chains in the Asia Pacific region. The company was established by American-born Thai businessman William E. Heinecke in 1980, with headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand.Its services include casual dining restaurants, quick service restaurants, food service and delivery.

References

  1. ↑ Ortiz, Aimee (November 22, 2024). "Schwan's Has Rung Its Last Doorbell". The New York Times . Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  2. ↑ Radzilowski, John. (July 1, 2015). "Marvin M. Schwan". Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present. vol. 5, edited by R. Daniel Wadhwani. German Historical Institute.
  3. ↑ Heyniger, Kevin (August 1, 1988). "Acrobatic Flying Is At EAA Convention". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 1C.
  4. ↑ Lambert, Bruce (12 May 1993). "Marvin M. Schwan, 64, Builder Of a Billion-Dollar Food Empire". The New York Times .
  5. ↑ Hennessy, Thomas W.; Hedberg, Craig W.; Slutsker, Laurence; et al. (16 May 1996). "A National Outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis Infections from Ice Cream". New England Journal of Medicine . 334 (20): 1281–1286. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199605163342001 . PMID   8609944.
  6. ↑ Penenberg, Adam L.; Barry, Marc (December 3, 2000). "The Pizza Plot". The New York Times Magazine.
  7. ↑ LeBeau, Steve, ed. (July 1, 2004). "Bonjour, Minnesota!". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
  8. ↑ Stein, Joel (30 November 2009). "Can Top Chef TV Dinners Live Up to Billing?". Time Magazine .
  9. ↑ "Schwan's sells 80% stake to US-based CJ CheilJedang". Verdict Foodservice. 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  10. ↑ Kennedy, Patrick (March 18, 2022). "Schwan's Home Delivery is changing its name to Yelloh". Star Tribune .
  11. ↑ "Montesano location of Yelloh (formerly Schwan's) will close Oct. 20". KXRO . October 10, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Why did Schwan's Home Delivery change its name to Yelloh?". Yelloh. Cygnus Home Service, LLC. 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  13. ↑ Yang, Hannah (23 September 2024). "Minnesota-based company Yelloh, once better known as Schwan's, announces November closure". MPR News.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.