RIP Schwan's

Was bought out a couple years ago and now kaput.

 

Haven't seen a Schwan's truck on the road in the past few years. Undercut by meal kits and online food delivery. Amazon, Walmart and UPS/FedEx deliver more food at a lower ROI.

 

My mom was a steady Schwan’s customer, but when their ordering had to be done online and she couldn’t just call it in or have the Schwan guy just periodically come by, she was done.

 

The push-up pops
The flautas that no matter how long they were in the oven/microwave……they were still frozen or molten lava. There was no cool or warm.
The bean burritos.
My grandmother had 2 deep freezers in her basement that was set aside specifically for the Schwan’s guy. He knew he had one job to do every week. Walk in the house. Go to the basement. Fill the freezers. If it was a single box of popsicles or 10 pounds of frozen okra. He knew his charge.

 

My Catholic friend's family — 8 kids — had Schwan's stuff because it was just to hard logistically to drive into town and buy groceries. I never knew anyone else who had the delivery.

I once talked to Schwan about a job and was told it was a 70- to 80-hour week probably seven days a week. I noped right on out of that discussion.

 

Being a native New Englander, I have never heard of this. Was this the Amazon of the 20th century?

 

It was more like FreezerDash. They had flyers with ice cream and heat-up product to be delivered. Predated even the microwave. Even had fairly regular routes in some neighborhoods.

 

I guess Schwan's was a regional thing, 'cause I don't remember it from my youth in the South. Where did it operate? I have heard of it but I thought it was just ice cream.

 

Ditto -- SoCal

 

Exact same reaction.

 

Pretty sure it was mostly in the Midwest. By the time I was in school, Market Day products (a fundraiser for many schools) had cut out many of Schwan’s customers, especially in non-ice cream products.

The Market Day bagel dogs … a staple of my teenage diet!

 

the pizza wontons and root beer float popsicles were The Truth