Schwans’ Quality Food & Home Delivery

I enjoy some of the Schwans foods. You have to learn which you like, and stick with those, I don’t get items (usually) that I can get at the grocery store (GS) and which are just as good, cause Schwans is more expensive. For example, most of the ice creams I don’t order. I can get similar flavors at the GS for less. Sometimes there is a flavor you can’t get at the GS — so then I would get it. Things like fudgebars — only at the GS. I DO order items I can’t get elsewhere that are tasty and for which I don’t want to take the time to create myself. For example, the shrimp rolls, Mexican Pizza, cheesy quik taters, chili minibites, chicken rolls, chicken tortilla soup, the bbq ribs, white chocolate raspberry scones, etc… When I have ordered items I don’t like — and it is something that has multiple servings in it — so you don’t use it all, my route driver takes it back without a problem and issues a credit. I’ve tried some of the single meals, they were just OK. Like I said, once I know if I like it or not determines if I will order it again. Sort of like the grocery store — you buy something once, and if you don’t like it you don’t get it again. Much depends on your taste buds, what I call good, you might not and visa versa. I’ve only ever once had to call the main office. It was a good and fruitful call. I had no issues. I usually deal directly with the delivery guy and via e-​mail. I always order online, and usually wait for a sales code to come through. I have my deliveries set up every two weeks (on Thursdays), but as the Monday prior approaches and there is nothing I want I cancel the next one. I go a couple or more months in between sometimes before I do another delivery. I try to order a bunch at one time, and almost always on sale. I did notice, as a sale is placed in my e-​mail, I can order those items, for the next delivery, but put that delivery off two more weeks on the Monday before, take advantage of the next sale and often a percent off coupon that wasn’t available at the time I placed the previous order for sale items — and all the sale prices are honored and the percent off is honored on all previous items in the order and new ones. You just «modify» pending orders to keep adding to them. Not sure if everything would be honored if I pushed it out more than 1 time, but I find I can get quite a savings on the items I want by doing that. It used to be that I felt better about the delivery charge by doing that — as the cost of the $ 1.75 delivery charge was then spread out among a bunch of items. Now though, they have free delivery for over a certain amount. As I always order in «bulk’ so to speak, I meet that amount — so now no delivery charges for me. My deliveries are made at the date and time I need them made. i have had them dropped off as well. I didn’t buy their freezer bags, I put my own coolers out and some freezer blocks, they place my items in the cooler and it’s there for when I get home, all nicely frozen. They even provided me with some of their Schwan freezer blocks once, so I put those in the coolers too. I usually place two coolers out, but they have managed to pack everything into 1 cooler both times I have done this (they pack very well) and that too has helped in keeping everything frozen. Everything is still frozen when I get home. They place it on my back porch for me so it’s not seen from the street and it’s in shade, not sitting in sun. So I’m happy with them. Like I said above, I use them for those things you can’t get as good at the GS.

I had high hopes, but found that all of the individual meals were pretty awful. Won’t order any of those again. In fact, I won’t be ordering anything again. Thought it would be convenient to have food delivered, but since i have to go to the grocery store anyway for other supplies, Schwan’s just isnt worth it. I like the mashed potatoes and vegetables are good, but nothing to rave about as one can find equal or better ready-​made quality for less at the grocery store. With grocery delivery available now, I don’t understand how Schwans stays in business. The food is poor quality and very expensive for what you get.

When Schwan’s works, it works well. Unfortunately, it never seems to work for long. The food is overpriced and the delivery personnel are very overworked (and likely underpaid and underappreciated). I would like to emphasize that the problems with this company are at the leadership level. The individual workers are great, but they are dealing in a poorly-​run work environment and have to work long hours just to keep up.
I have used Schwan’s twice in the past few years – in two completely different parts of town. The trend I noticed in both cases is that they give you a delivery window and for the first few visits, they stay within that window. Soon they’re arriving later and later until they’re well outside of that window. If your window is between 5pm and 8pm, this just means a big truck is rolling onto your street at 9:30 or 10 at night, which is bad enough. If your window is during the day, it means you’re waiting around for hours at your house for the truck to finally show up.
The first time this happened, I simply canceled. My freezer was full and I no longer had the budget for $ 12 boxes of food. The second time (this week), they lost my business for life. This was about the eighth or ninth time they were scheduled to show up and the time was already at 9 or 9:30 pm. When 9:30 pm arrived on my most recent scheduled visit, I wondered if he was just going to be late. We waited for him until after 10 pm and finally went to bed. He never showed.
I called the next day and the customer service people had no idea what was going on. They said all they could see was my next delivery was scheduled for two weeks from then (October 21^st). I asked what had happened to the order that was supposed to be delivered the night before and they just said it would be delivered on the 21^st. Angry, I asked for them to cancel everything and take me off their route. They said they «can’t» and my local route manager would have to call.
The local route manager finally called, apologetic, and let me know that he’d messed up. He completely forgot to let everyone know that our delivery guy had taken the day off. Apparently the company has no backup delivery driver, so if your guy is off, you aren’t getting your food that week? He promised to send a guy named Tim to my house on Saturday between 11 and 2 with my items. I was offered no coupon or discount or anything to make up for the inconvenience.
Needless to say, Saturday came and I waited around all day for a guy who never showed. I sent an angry «written request» to have my account canceled and all of my information removed from their server. On Monday, the response I got was that I needed to call. I called and got the «can’t» word again because my food is «already loaded» on the truck for delivery on the 21^st (more than a week away at that point). Not only does that register as complete B.S., but you should never, EVER use the word «can’t» with an angry customer. You can and you will. She finally put me on hold for about five minutes and came back with the answer that she’d let our route manager know to cancel our order and remove us from their route.
I fully expect a truck to pull in on the 21^st with all our food, at which point I will not answer the door. My account is STILL active on their server despite my asking for it to be canceled multiple times. I’m not sure what I have to do to let this company know I no longer want to do business with them, but it appears there is a serious disconnect between what is going on at the local level and what happens at the corporate level. I recommend staying away from Schwan’s unless you want to sign up for a crappy, expensive service that you can never get out of!

My full review would take too much room, and you can read the following reviews and just add my Ditto. I’ve been trying to cancel myself off the web site completely, no such luck. I can delete the emails, and not answer the phone. I live in a senior apartment complex, a locked facility (NOT locked-​down), just locked ²⁴⁄₇. There are several ways to operate the entryway, one of which is a phone call to the resident’s apartment. Two times a Schwan’s driver has visited this complex on the pretense he/​she knows me (they do have my name and apartment number), and that he’s responding to a request from me to stop by. I NEVER EVER WOULD DO THAT. Yesterday I returned home, and at my door was a Schwan’s catalog, with a post-​it attached, and the name of the driver (I assume). I referred the entire matter to the Olympia Police Department. There are 170 apartments here, and we are all on alert for folks who might be trying to enter on false pretenses, but residents cannot ask in-​depth questions of folks wanting to enter. None of us is a trained security person. We have security cameras, and a night-​time drive-​by and check-​doors professional service. I hope whoever is responsible for this invasive marketing is targeted for discipline.

We enjoy many of their meal items. We believe their chicken filets are the best. Every bite is delicious and better quality than grocery store alternatives. My husband cooks most of what we purchase on the grill.
The cost for home delivery is less than $ 2.00. We have never had a time when the delivery was incorrect, and if you desire something last minute, they always have it stocked on their trucks.
We would not recommend everything. We have several favorites and the ice cream selections are always a winner. By trying various items, we have found what is prime for our tastebuds.
Val Lee of «val lee weblog»

Nothing but highly processed junk food. This and other producers of junk food are killing out children. This company serves our children junk food in our schools with my tax dollar. Senator Kloubuchar backs Schwans over our childrens health. Demand better for our kids.

I am SO frustrated. I wanted to buy $ 1,000 worth of gift card money for my dad who eats this food constantly. I said to the rep he was coming home from the hospital and he is a regular customer and I’ve purchased gift cards before. They do not have e-​gift cards which is SO annoying and will only send by UPS which takes 7 business days. They said the only way they could get them there is if I pay $ 17 to get them shipped overnight. Can’t believe in this day and age can’t get a damn email gift card. Ugh, have enough to worry about and will just go with Omaha Steaks.

it’s ok but… i have tried it 3 times now and found items I liked however, portions were small so the value for some items is not there. The other problem is with customer service, the online chat is limited and cannot help with product info or refunds. Old fashioned, you have to go through two people to complete the refund process, first an agent and then a product person to provide details on why you did not like the product. that is alot to place on customers, so you will be on the phone for a bit. so old school and a waste of time. some items are good others awful so reviews are not very reliable. i found the hassle to be not worth it so doubt i will continue or will only order items i know i like to avoid the refund process. luckily, grocery delivery if finally expanding for those of us that want to skip the weekly chore

Every two weeks they are set to deliver and the morning of delivery you’ll get an email saying your delivery is being pushed back another 2 weeks. It’s going on 6 weeks now! I live near a city of over 600,000(Seattle) 30mins from Schwan’s Tacoma, wa office and still can get what I ordered delivered. Very poor organization skills apparently. I have all the emails and calls to the office logged. I don’t know how they stay in business. Great products but if you can’t get them what good are they?!
***update: Supervisor came up with a creative solution since they couldn’t get a delivery date sooner that they would just ship it via ground. Finally a solution just toke a while to get there. Unfortunately the call center has very little info about what’s going on a local centers so you can try asking but don’t expect an answer. I think they are just understaffed.

Pestered To Death
I should have posted a review earlier, but I actually didn’t think about it.
Another stupid and unwanted email pushed me over the edge (I blocked the emails from Schwan’s earlier, and so I was surprised by the one on Monday).
A few years ago, a Schwan’s representative came to my wife’s workplace nearly every week. I was pleased, but the man suddenly stopped coming (a workplace policy may have played a role, but I think it really had to do with the man not receiving many orders).
On 8/​28, I decided to place an order (in particular, I missed the Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches). It didn’t take long before I regretted it.
One of my items was temporarily out of stock (I saved $ 1, but my Order Total was still $ 47.73– I only ordered 3 items), but my order was placed on hold because there were no representatives in my area at the time.
The status of my order wasn’t made clear enough (the original delivery date was 9÷1− it was changed to ⁹⁄₁₅), and so I waited for over 2 weeks in vain. On 9/​17, I placed my order again and canceled the other one (my request wasn’t accepted at first). I had to choose another shipping method (my new Order Total was $ 56.52).
The Delivery Fee was $ 14.95, but I received my order 5 days later (I was relieved). In addition, I was impressed by the packaging. My items were kept very cold.
My «victory» was short-​lived.
I began receiving a slew of emails (at least 2 a week).
I also received at least 2 things in the mail each week.
I’m positive that I indicated that I didn’t want to receive any mailings (Schwan’s tries to bowl you over with deals and coupons).
There were also 2 visits to my house (canceling my initial order should have made it clear that I wasn’t looking for a representative to visit).
I wasn’t home the first time.
I was home the second time, but didn’t answer the door (I was watching my son, and I didn’t want to yell at a stranger in front of him).
I left a text for the second representative. I told him not to reply, but of course he did.
For the second time in a week (I also sent an email saying that I didn’t want to be bothered anymore), I made it clear that I wanted to be left alone.
What happened bordered on harassment.
If I was old and confined to my house, I wouldn’t mind ordering from Schwan’s again and again. I hate, though, when any company is too desperate for business. Back the fu– off.
The mailings stopped after a few weeks.
The emails stopped because I blocked the company.
«Thank you for contacting Schwan’s Home Service, Inc. We have received your email and will follow up with you within 24 hours.»
Even speaking my mind was a futile process at first (I received an email after I made it clear that I didn’t want to receive any more).
The people who run the company are truly clueless.
The email that I received on Monday makes it clear that they think that I’m a happy customer (I have pulled all of my hair out, and so I’m definitely not smiling).
Here is some info if you want to jump into the abyss:
Fully Cooked Ribs with BBQ Sauce — Limited Time Offering ($ 19.99): 8.25÷10.
My ribs were tricky to get out of the package.
They were good, though, and I’m a fan of the sauce (I will use what I saved at some point).
Their pizzas are small, but tasty (I would give a score, but it’s not clear if the exact ones I ordered years ago are still being sold).
I was disappointed with their bagel dogs.
It’s no longer available, but their pulled pork was pretty good.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (6 for $ 8.99): ⁹⁄₁₀.
They’re very good and somewhat big.
CONFETTI Ice Cream Cups (24 for $ 12.59): 7.5÷10.
They’re fine, but I wouldn’t order them again.
They don’t come with any (wooden) spoons. My wife was surprised.
Cheese and Herb Biscuits (18 for $ 7.89): 8.5÷10.
A little small, but flavorful.
My wife was especially a fan.
As you can see, the food isn’t an issue.
I value my sanity, though.
I’m never going to order from these pests and idiots again. It’s not worth the aggravation.

My 87 year old mother seldom cooks anymore. She lives in Florida and all her children live in the NE United States. Mom told me that she wants to order from Schwans. She does not use the Internet. I did live chat to ask that a print catalog be sent to mother. I was told that Schwans does not mail catalogs. I then asked that the route salesman stop by with a print catalog (mother has seen him in her street). I was told that they will not do this because she hasn’t ordered anything, although print catalogs are routinely provided for route customers. I was told that my 87 year old mother could go stand outside and flag down the route salesman for a catalog. I was pretty furious so I called the 800 number for Schwans, assuming that someone knowledgable would understand that most 87 year olds do NOT use the Internet and will not be downloading catalogs and will NOT be running out into the street to stop Schwans trucks!
Route salesmen do have print catalogs, but they refuse to let their route salesman spend 30 seconds delivering a print catalog to my mother? How absurd is this??? I have officially complained on their «contact us» email site and I am supposed to have a response in 24 hours. I assume I shall hear the same absurd response. My mother wants a damn print catalog so she can then use the phone to order food. Why is this so difficult for this company to comprehend? My mother orders items from print catalogs all the time for herself, her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. She just phoned in orders in excess, of $ 400 for Christmas hams from Honey Baked Hams PRINT catalog. She would probably be spending well over $ 500 a month for Schwans foods but they care so little about gaining another customer that they refuse my simple request to deliver a catalog to her. This is the very height of absurdity!
UPDATE! I just got a call from a lovely customer service person. She apologized and said that Schwans will send my mother a catalog in the US mail. I changed my review from one to 4 stars for the prompt response to my complaint. I can’t give it 5 stars due to the initial hassle, but now my problem is resolved!

I still cook most of our meals from scratch and we enjoy dining out as often as possible. For everything else I depend on Schwans. They would have been given five stars but the prices are creeping ever upward. But where is that NOT true these days. Grocery ads here have higher prices every week.
Schwans carries 350 food items at all times, every category but milk, eggs and loaves of bread. I receive the best quallity meats, vegetables, frozen fruits, all kinds of ice cream products and desserts.
The few times I wasn’t pleased they refunded my money without trouble.
I’ll mention a favorite — Doggie Sundaes. My own pet and puppies I foster get so excited when I hand them one and they lick them for a good 30 minutes. No calories and lots of vitamins and minerals. If I had to give up all other products, I’d still order the treats for my dog.
No complaints but prices. They are dependable and treat their customers well.

Well, think I’m done with them. The rep came to my house yesterday, I wasn’t gonna buy anything, but he reminded me it was Easter weekend. So, I thought I’d try the scalloped potatoes (hard to go wrong with that) well they were horabile .way undercooked. The package said cook for aprox 1 hr. I cooked um for 1 ½ hrs because the center was stil cold. Nothing like chewing on hard uncooked freezdried potatoes, not to mention it hardly had any taste. Had another bad experience with there chicken enchiladas. The were so bad tasting, we ate a few bites and threw the whole package away. I thought they provided high quality food, but, I was wrong..

When I contacted the Live Chat to inquire about when the food would be delivered they said by Noon today via UPS (no delivery in L.A. shipping to son at USC). I also asked how long the dry ice would last they said only a couple of hours past delivery. My food has been sitting on a truck for nearly 12 hours and is 5 hours past the noon delivery time!!! Either the Live Chat people are worthless for information or they have a sales pitch that is simply not true!

Those of you old enough might remember Schwan’s as the truck that delivered ice cream to your home every week. I stumbled across them again last week and checked out their website — only out of curiosity. They have lots and lots of stuff! I guess I was hungry ’cause I ordered way too much. It was delivered right to my door this afternoon. Of course, I couldn’t wait to try some of the stuff, so I fixed the mini bow tie pasta and vegetable blend and added some chicken breast meat to it. Easy peasy to fix in the microwave! Then I baked cheese and herb biscuits in the toaster oven. (Yep, they’re just as good as that seafood place!) Didn’t even heat up the kitchen. Great easy meal and I am soooo happy that I found Schwan’s again. Can’t wait to try out more of the items I bought.
You can pick the days and times of delivery to match your schedule.
** Unless you have a freezer unit, be careful about what you order!

One of America’s greatest and tastiest, Foodie Originals is Schwan’s Quality Food & Home Delivery Service. With 5000 trucks roaming the USA, you can probably call them right up or order online and have little trouble getting them out your way. When this Foodie was a mere morsel, okay, child, growing up in rural Illinois, the only thing that could usurp the musical truck of the local ice cream man, was the sight of the yellow Schwan’s truck, with all of its compartmental doors with chrome handles, rolling up to our house on the culdesac. Especially in the summertime, my family knew it was loaded with their famous array of homemade ice creams, and my personal favorite, still to date, giant bags of frozen peaches, mixed fruits, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, melons, you name it. The ice cream was good, and somewhat absurd as the tubs they sold at that time seemed gigantic, but the latter frozen fruit, was always the bomb to me as a kid. They even had a fruit mix (not sure if still avail), that had frozen green and red grapes and that really hit it for me. I’d eat them right out of the bag and their crunchy bursts were the stuff childhood summers are made of.
Today, some 20 years later, and all grown up, ordering from Schwan’s is still a Foodie priority and joy. Since they advertise their food as «restaurant quality,» it promotes a certain brag that I can tell you from having worked as a chef, isn’t a stretch in terms of proof. They’re Mediterranean Veggie blend of sweet yellow onions, zucchini, yellow squash, baby carrots, green beans and bell peppers is so flavorful and fresh that sauteed in pan, they deliver what I’ll compliment as a grilled vegetable flavor. None of what they sell in the veggie and fruit department have that «frozen too late in the game» look or taste. You know, the bags have some weight to them instead of feeling like little icicles filled with air. And for a Foodie who knows the value of a good freeze process to lock in vital minerals and vitamins, along with flavor and texture, Schwan’s cannot be matched for what they’ve accomplished here. Their pricing also reflects this. Some mothers have claimed that they love Schwan’s but their family budget won’t allow them to touch things in the catalog, and on some of that I agree, but I would encourage mother’s to look harder at what’s here for the money and they may not find everything a fit, but some items I would say are hard to compare or are much different from the store, and yes, they’re being delivered so that alone is kind of a different cost game altogether anyway. For those of you who love making smoothies or work out and know how much fresh fruit can restore your post work out feeling, the frozen fruit selection of Schwan’s cannot be beat for the price & I would challenge any reader to find a better or cheaper 2lb bag of mixed fruit that contains pineapple, mangos, strawberries and peaches. The flavor of this mix will knock the socks off of your Foodie tastebuds I can assure you. I’m eating a bag as I type this in fact! I tend to buy 15 or 20 bags at a time which lasts me the 2 weeks between truck deliveries.
Okay, let’s talk pizzas. Last night I ate their 10 inch deep dish pepperoni pizza and like most Foodies, I somewhat shirk at the idea of a frozen pizza, but as we all know, sometimes we gotta, well permit me to intro you to your new favorite company. The crust is buttery crisp and a tad sweet, the cheeses are immaculate and sometimes when eating their 4 or 5 cheese pizzas, I’ve forgotten they were frozen after the first bite. When they use the term «Pizzeria Style» to describe their many flatbread, thin crust and deep dish offerings, its not just another bogus advertising buzz term. They live up to the hype. In fact, I would encourage any reader when going to their website, to head straight to that section and if you can manage to leave the juiciness of those pizza pages, then work your way around to the rest of the site. They specialize in Ice Creams, Pizzas, Meats, Seafood, Side Dishes, Appetizers, Desserts of every make, family designed portions, LiveSmart Programs and just all kinds of stuff to satisfy every kind of Foodie client. Just incredible what this company has done for the Foodie’s World gang. Been around since 1952 and would encourage reading the very interesting and graphically fun history section on the website to really get into appreciating this great American Foodie Institution. All Hail Schwan’s!