Schoep's Ice Cream facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Headquarters | 2070 Helena Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53704 |
| Products | Ice Cream |
| Revenue | $60 Million (as of 2016) |
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Number of employees
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150 |
Schoep's Ice Cream is a company that makes delicious ice cream! It's located in Madison, Wisconsin. It's also the biggest independent ice cream maker in Wisconsin, meaning it's not owned by a larger company.
Contents
The Story of Schoep's Ice Cream
Schoep's Ice Cream was started by E.J. Schoephoester way back in 1928. He first made and sold his ice cream right from his own grocery store.
By 1937, Schoep's Ice Cream became very popular in the local area. In 1940, E.B. Schoephoester sold his company to Peter B. Thomsen, who used to make butter.
The Thomsen family has owned the company ever since. As of 2008, nineteen members of the Thomsen family were part owners. In 2018, four members of the third generation of the Thomsen family worked at the main office in Madison. These included Alan Thomsen (CEO), Eric Thomsen (VP of innovation and technology), Richard Thomsen (operations manager), and John Thomsen (food service sales and special events).
A Change in Ownership
On October 14, 2019, Schoep's Ice Cream announced that the company was facing financial difficulties. This meant they needed to find a new owner to keep making ice cream.
Schoep's was then sold to a company called Brothers International Desserts, which is based in California. This sale happened on February 27, 2020.
How Schoep's Makes Ice Cream
All of Schoep's Ice Cream is made in one factory. This factory is located on Division Street in Madison, Wisconsin.
By 2008, Schoep's was making a lot of ice cream! They could produce 6,000 gallons of ice cream every hour. That's about 2.5 million gallons each year. Because they make so much, Schoep's has been recognized as the top ice cream producer in the state of Wisconsin.
To help with their growth, Schoep's opened a new distribution center in 2005. This big building cost $7 million and was about 46,000 square feet. It had space for 3,600 large pallets of ice cream and 14 loading docks. Before this new center, Schoep's had only two loading docks at their factory to ship all their ice cream.
In 2016, Schoep's made an amazing 10 million gallons of ice cream! Their sales reached over $60 million. They shipped their ice cream to all 50 states in the United States and even to Puerto Rico. In 2017, they made even more, over 12 million gallons of ice cream.
Besides regular ice cream, Schoep's also makes other yummy frozen treats. These include frozen yogurt, frozen custard, lite ice cream, sherbert, and ice cream novelties (like ice cream bars).
Special Partnerships
Walgreens Ice Cream
You might not see Schoep's Ice Cream brand outside of the Midwest United States very often. That's because they make ice cream for other companies! For example, they make the Walgreens brand Ice Cream. They also make ice cream for other private labels.
Since 1993, Schoep's has been the only company making ice cream sold under the Walgreens label. This special agreement makes up more than 25 percent of Schoep's business.
Other Treats They Make
Schoep's also has licenses to make and distribute other popular ice cream treats. These include Eskimo Pie, Popsicle, Heath and Nestlé Crunch Ice Cream Bars.
They also make the supermarket version of Gilles Frozen Custard.
See also
