The Schwan Food Co., Marshall, Minn., formed the Schwan’s Chef Collective, a team of up-and-coming U.S. chefs who will assist in developing the next generation of Schwan-branded frozen foods. This announcement comes on the heels of the company’s simplicity ingredient initiative, 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," says Dimitrios Smyrnios, chief executive officer. "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, foodservice and home-delivery customers." 

As a part of Schwan’s Chef Collective, chefs will partner with the Schwan culinary team, which 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.  

“Our team is constantly eating, tasting and sampling, and we gain insights from other leaders in the food world,” adds Stacey Fowler, senior vice president of product innovation and development. “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.”