Schwan is taking steps to meet and exceed consumer expectations for taste and quality.
A team of up-and-coming chefs from across the U.S., known as the Schwan’s Chef Collective, will now assist in developing the next generation of Schwan-branded frozen foods. This announcement from The Schwan Food Company follows company’s simplicity ingredient initiative announcement.
The simplicity ingredient initiative is a commitment to removing four ingredient groups from foods sold by every subsidiary of Schwan, including Schwan’s Home Service Inc., Schwan’s Consumer Brands Inc. and Schwan’s Food Service Inc.
“We believe the Schwan’s Chef Collective will help us change the way people think about the frozen-food category,” said Dimitrios Smyrnios, CEO of The Schwan Food Company. “We are proud to work with these talented chefs to make a spectrum of great food—indulgent-to-wholesome, convenient-to-authentic and simple-to-sophisticated—with the goal of exciting our retail, food-service and home-delivery customers.”
As a part of Schwan’s Chef Collective, chefs will partner with the Schwan culinary team based in Marshall, Minn. The inaugural team includes seven accomplished chefs external to the company who have honed their crafts in diverse culinary ventures across the country — from restaurants to food trucks and even the development of cookbooks. Each member of the team brings a unique perspective and is tasked with scouting emerging ingredients, cooking methods and global cuisines to continually influence the innovation of Schwan foods.
“Our team is constantly eating, tasting and sampling, and we gain insights from other leaders in the food world,” said Stacey Fowler, senior vice president of product innovation and development at The Schwan Food Company. “Schwan’s Chef Collective enables us to dive deeper into emerging trends and consumers’ ever changing lifestyles to develop new, delicious and wholesome recipes with quality ingredients.”
Schwan’s Chef Collective member and award-winning Minneapolis chef, Jamie Malone, added, “Food is a huge part of our culture, our relationships and our lifestyles. With the Schwan’s Chef Collective, we will use our own personal experiences and approach to cooking to develop a new generation of frozen foods that meet the needs of families today.”
To get started, Schwan’s Chef Collective gathered twice in Minnesota, visiting 14 restaurants in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and the company’s research and development facilities. During the meetings, the team worked to understand the foods made and sold by Schwan subsidiaries and brainstormed new ideas to create food that tastes good, caters to current trends and wellness goals and offers amazing convenience. The results of their work will start to show in new recipes, events and more in the near future. The company plans to expand the program, engaging with more chefs in the coming months.
Schwan’s Chef Collective is the next step in the company’s pledge to provide food that meets a variety of consumer needs, including certified gluten-free, certified organic, no sugar added, low sodium, low calorie, vegetarian and heart-healthy options that are already available in its broad food portfolio. These changes are being made with careful attention to meeting and exceeding consumer expectations for taste and quality.
