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Home delivery a blessing
BY MARGO OXENDINE • STAFF WRITER
 | | Keith Wagner can put his hand on many of Schwan's more than 400 frozen food products in a matter of seconds. That's a good thing, since temperatures inside the Schwan's truck range from -20 to -30 degrees. Wagner delivers throughout Bath, except for the Millboro area, and Pocahontas County, W.Va. |
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ALMOST ANYWHERE - It's an exciting sight: the creamy yellow Schwan's truck, lumbering up the driveway, or grinding into the parking lot.
Dinner is served! Or lunch, or a tasty treat, or a yummy dessert.
Chances are, you've supped or snacked on something from Schwan's. Many folks, especially those in rural locales, have learned to depend on Schwan's home delivery of more than 400 frozen food products.
Every two weeks, Keith Wagner points his truck west, or north, or south, and services customers in their homes or at work.
Did you ever wonder how Schwan's got started? It's one of those great stories of America's can-do ingenuity.
According to the company, "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 homedelivery business was born."
 | | Schwan's customer service manager Keith Wagner delivers a bag of frozen goodies to Betty Mines at Mountain Crest retirement village. (Recorder photo by Margo Oxendine) |
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Marvin Schwan's family dairy farm in Marshall, Minnesota was experiencing hard times back then. Today, more than 6,000 customer service managers like Wagner are delivering frozen food to thousands of homes and businesses across the country. Schwan's even has plants in England, France and Germany. The company employs some 22,000 people. Just how many customers take advantage of their tasty convenience is unknown; the company is privately held, and not bound to release specific sales information.
With 500 sales and distribution centers across the United States, one can only guess at the volume. But their product quality and customer service reputation is no secret.
What you may not know is that Schwan's does much more than just deliver frozen food to your door. One facet of the company concentrates on servicing schools. Another arm, Schwan's Consumer Brands North America, Inc. manufactures such brands as Red Baron®, Freschetta® and Tony's® pizza, those convenient Mrs. Smith's® pies and Edwards® desserts. It also offers Larry's® potatoes and Asian Sensations ™ products.
But those are foods one must buy at a grocery store and haul home in the car.
Those in our far-flung locale know that the logistics of getting frozen food home from Staunton, Lexington, Roanoke or Charlottesville can be daunting. That's why many depend on Schwan's home delivery. And friendly drivers like Wagner.
A typical workweek for Wagner begins at dawn on a Monday, when he drives from his home in Amherst County to the distribution center in Lexington. There, he loads up his propane-powered yellow truck and hits the road. His territory stretches from hither to yon. It includes all of Bath County, save for Millboro, which is serviced by another driver from another distribution center. It also covers Pocahontas County, W.Va. It entails lots of nights in motels, and lots of cell phone calls, on those occasions he can tap into a service tower.
On any given day, but like clockwork every two weeks, Wagner might find himself in Burnsville and Williamsville, in Bolar and Bacova, in Hot and Healing Springs, or Mitchelltown and Warm Springs. Perhaps his busiest stop is at the Bath County Courthouse, where he services some two dozen customers under one roof. One courthouse employee notes that deliveries there grew so voluminous, Schwan's gave them a freezer to hold all the food.
These days, Schwan's provides freezer bags to customers who get deliveries at their place of business. Clients purchase the reusable bags. "Then we provide ice packs each time we come," Wagner explains. "We drop the ice in the bags and it will keep ice cream frozen for 12 hours." The trucks, which are compartmentalized, keep foods frozen at 20 to 30 degrees below zero.
Last Friday, Wagner's route included the Mountain Crest retirement village, behind the high school in Warm Springs. Residents smiled and waved and grabbed their wallets as the truck ground to a halt in the parking lot. Wagner put southern-style biscuits, chicken dinners and pecan caramel rolls into a large bag for one customer. When he noticed she used a walker, he offered to take the food inside and put it in the freezer for her.
"I don't have to do a thing!" Helen Rexrode smiled. "The price might be a little high, but you can't find it anywhere any better than this, and it comes right to my door. Schwan's is wonderful! I've been buying it for 15 years."
To get on Schwan's delivery list, or to find out which of its 400 or more products appeal to you, visit www.schwans.com, or call the toll-free number, 1-888- SCHWANS.
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