Our History
On Tuesday, March 18, 1952, a 23-year-old Marvin Schwan packed his beat-up 1946 Dodge panel van with 14 gallons of his family’s signature ice cream and delivered it to rural families in western Minnesota. At the end of that historic trip, all 14 gallons were sold and the Schwan home-delivery business was born.
Today, The Schwan Food Company is a multi-billion-dollar private company with 22,000 employees worldwide. Based out of Marshall, Minnesota, the company sells fine frozen foods on its traditional delivery trucks, in grocery store freezers, online and in the foodservice industry.
Adversity and innovation (1974-1983)
The year 1974 was one of adversity for Schwan. On February 23, a fire destroyed the original ice cream plant, corporate headquarters and a distribution center in Marshall, Minnesota. Company leaders were faced with a decision on whether to move operations out of rural Minnesota, but in the end, Marvin decided the business would remain in his hometown. With that decision made, the company began to focus on growth.
First, with fuel prices on the rise, the company decided to convert its fleet of delivery trucks to propane power. That standard still exists today as most of the company’s delivery trucks run on liquid propane gas. At the time, it took roughly three years to convert all of the company’s 2,000 trucks to propane. Today, the company has roughly 6,700 delivery trucks, and owns a subsidiary business that produces propane conversion kits for engines that burn gasoline.
The company’s pizza production also began to grow as did the country’s appetite for frozen pizza. In 1975, Schwan began selling Tony’s® pizza to schools — as it does today. A year later, the company launched Red Baron® pizza to offer stiffer competition in the grocery aisles. The marketing campaign of Red Baron® pizza focused on creating a romantic and nostalgic mood. To help promote this feeling, the company in 1979 formed the Red Baron Squadron® flight team, which today is the longest-serving civilian air team in the country. The team consists of six Stearman biplanes that tour the country’s airshows and make dozens of market stops every year.
Other noteworthy developments during this time include the creation of the Little Charlies® brand to provide customers with the ever-popular 5-inch pizza. The pizzas were targeted at cafeterias, hotels, restaurants, colleges and hospitals. Similar pizzas were added to Home Service routes as Schwan’s® singles and in grocery stores as Red Baron® singles.
