Yelloh, the frozen food home delivery service formerly known as Schwan’s, is closing after 72 years

Yelloh, the Minnesota-based frozen food home delivery service formerly known as Schwan’s, is closing in November after 72 years in business, the company announced on Monday.

176 Minnesota employees will lose their jobs following the closures of their eight facilities in the state, a Minnesota Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice said. In total, the nationwide company has around 1,100 employees who deliver frozen foods direct to people’s homes, the press release says.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we made the difficult decision to cease operations of Yelloh,” said CEO
Bernardo Santana.

The company says the multiple factors contributed to “insurmountable business challenges,” including economic and market forces and a change in consumer lifestyles.

The final day for customers to order products is Nov. 8. Employees will be paid through Nov 2.

The company started in and is still headquartered in Marshall. Marvin Schwan first delivered ice cream to people in rural Minnesota in 1952 using his 1940 Dodge panel van, 14 gallons of ice cream and dry ice.

“The current Yelloh team has worked hard against external headwinds such as the nationwide staffing
challenges and crushing food supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic,” said Ziebell. “These
challenges, combined with changing consumer lifestyles and competitive pressures that have been
building for over 20 years, made success very difficult. Digital shopping has replaced the personal, at-thedoor customer interaction that was the hallmark of the company.”

The company rebranded to Yelloh in 2022.