1948

Paul and Alma Schwan and their 19-year-old son, Marvin, start Schwan's Dairy in Marshall, Minnesota.

1952

On Tuesday, March 18, 1952, a 23-year-old Marvin Schwan makes a delivery that would change his life and the lives of countless others. He packed his 1946 Dodge panel van with dry ice and 14 gallons of ice cream and headed north out of Marshall, Minnesota to sell his family's premium ice cream. At the end of the day, all 14 gallons were sold and the home delivery business was born.

1953

Marvin buys his first refrigerated vehicle, a three-quarter-ton Ford. An artist friend, Milford Paxton, painted the truck a creamy yellow (later trademarked as Inca Gold®) and added a logo. At this time, Marvin was selling about 120 gallons of ice cream per day. Marvin also hires his company's first "career" route salesman.

1956

Marvin began his plans for expansion. The first permanent distribution depot outside of Marshall, a 16-by-24-foot freezer warehouse located in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, was built, allowing for additional routes.

1957

Route trucks began carrying Schwan's® first non-dairy product — a juice concentrate with the brand name Vita-Sun.

1962

Marvin added fish to offerings off of the truck. By this time, the company was expanding rapidly, operating in eight states by 1963. After 10 years of business, the company had grown to more than $4.5 million in revenues and 83 trucks were on the road.

1964

The company is incorporated as Schwan's Sales Enterprises, Inc., and Marvin's older brother, Alfred, joins the company. Marvin's younger brother, Robert, had also been working for the company since 1948.

1966

The company begins manufacturing ice-cream drumsticks and sandwiches. It also ventures into frozen pizza when a Wisconsin salesman begins selling frozen pizza from route trucks.

 

 

1970

The company runs an ad in the Wall Street Journal with a simple headline: "Wanted: Frozen Pizza Manufacturer." The ad leads to the purchase of the company's pizza plant in Salina, Kansas, and the Tony's® pizza brand.

The company installs its first computer, a National Cash Register Series 100, in a mobile home that is placed on the roof of the Ice Cream Plant in Marshall, Minnesota. The huge computer had 16 kilobytes of memory, approximately the size of an e-mail with no attachments.

1974

On February 23, 1974, fire destroys the company's ice cream plant, corporate headquarters and distribution center in Marshall. After briefly entertaining the idea of moving corporate headquarters to South Dakota, Marvin makes the decision to rebuild in Marshall.

With gas prices reaching unprecedented levels, the company begins converting its route trucks to run on propane fuel. Today, about 90 percent of the company's estimated 5,700 trucks for Home Service.

1975

The company creates its Food Service Division (now Schwan's Food Service, Inc.) and provides its frozen pizza and other products to schools and other venues in the food-service industry.

1976

Red Baron® pizza is introduced by the company's Consumer Brands division. The quality of the new product caught on quick with consumers and grew to become the company's best-selling pizza brand. The home-delivery business introduces corn dogs and the Ranchero™ sandwich.

1979

To help market Red Baron® pizza throughout the United States, the Red Baron® Pizza Squadron is formed. The squadron of WWII-era biplanes would serve the brand for 28 years. During that time it had become the longest-serving civilian aerobatic team in the United States and would carry more than 80,000 passengers.

1983

The company launches its newest innovation — a 5-inch single-serve deep-dish pizza that is first launched under the Little Charlies® brand.

1986

The company acquires Sabatasso Foods, a frozen-pizza producer, and the Minh Food Corporation, an Asian-style foods producer. As a part of the Sabatasso Foods acquisition, the company began operating its pizza plant in Florence, Kentucky, where it would later begin producing Freschetta® pizza.

1993

On May 9, 1993, Marvin Schwan, the company's founder, died at the age of 64 as the result of a heart attack. Schwan employees were stunned at the news. With one great idea and a lot of hard work and dedication, Marvin helped turn his tiny rural business into a multibillion-dollar company. Newspapers throughout the country carried Marvin's obituary because it was important news to business leaders throughout the world. Some reporters labeled him "The Emperor of Ice Cream."

After Marvin's passing, his older brother, Alfred, was named as the company's president. Alfred had served as the company's head of manufacturing since he joined the company in 1964 and was intimately involved in all aspects of the business. Alfred led the company with his strong, enthusiastic presence, guiding the business through hard and uncertain times. When asked how to be successful at Schwan, Alfred quoted Marvin: "Work hard, help one another, grow in every way, be enthusiastic and have integrity in everything that you do." That statement became the basis for the company's current core values of growth, hard work, helping one another, enthusiasm and integrity.

1996

The company introduces Freschetta® pizza in frozen-pizza aisles throughout the United States. To entice pizza lovers to buy its new pizza, the company built an advertising campaign around "Etta," a spunky sample lady who asked the simple question: "Tried Freschetta yet?

1998

The company begins sponsoring the Schwan's USA CUP youth soccer tournament and signs on as title sponsor of the Schwan Super Rink — a one-of-a-kind facility for ice-skating events like hockey and figure skating. Located in the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota, the rink is the world's largest ice arena with eight sheets of ice under a single roof. The Schwan's USA CUP is the Western Hemisphere's largest youth soccer tournament.

2001

The company buys Atlanta-based Edwards Fine Foods, a manufacturer and distributor of premium desserts. The Edwards® brand has grown to become a top brand in the U.S. frozen-dessert market.

2002

The company celebrates its first 50 years of business, and Schwan's Home Service, Inc. launches its first comprehensive Internet site at Schwans.com.

2003

The company officially changes its name from Schwan's Sales Enterprises to The Schwan Food Company and its major business units became their own corporations. Today, the three product sales and distribution channels of the company include Schwan's Home Service, Inc., Schwan's Consumer Brands, Inc. and Schwan's Food Service, Inc. The swan in the company's logo symbolizes the Schwan family heritage and brand equity.

To further expand its position as a leading producer and distributor of frozen desserts, the company acquires the frozen-dessert business of Mrs. Smith's Bakeries and the Mrs. Smith's® dessert brand.

2006

The company acquires Holiday Foods, of Hollywood, Florida. Holiday Foods specializes in the production of high-end hors d'oeuvres for the food-service industry.

2007

Robert "Bob" Schwan, the longest-serving employee in the company's history, dies from congestive heart failure at the age of 76. Bob, the younger brother of Alfred and Marvin, first started working for Schwan's Dairy in 1948. The company's internal service awards have been named in his honor.

2008

Alfred Schwan, serving as chairman of The Schwan Food Company, is inducted into the Frozen Food Hall of Fame at an American Frozen Food Institute convention. He joined his brother, Marvin, who was inducted posthumously to the Hall of Fame in 2002.

After serving the company for more than 20 years, long-time employee Greg Flack is named as the company's new chief executive officer, president and chief operating officer. He would launch a new three-tiered strategy that focuses on being the best in three areas: Our People, Our Products and Our Performance. He would become the fifth CEO in the company's history, following Marvin and Alfred Schwan, Ken Noyes and M. Lenny Pippin.

2009

Alfred Schwan, the older brother of the company's founder, retires as the company's chairman of the board. He had worked for the company for 45 years.

In 2009, Schwan's Home Service, Inc., the company's home-delivery business, began the two-year process of rolling out a new brand look for the subsidiary. The new logo portrays the Schwan's® brand essence of quality foods.