Meet Best New Foodservice Offering of the Year Winner: Swiss Farms
BROOMALL, Pa. — Swiss Farms, the Broomall-based chain of 13 convenience drive-thru markets, was a first-time winner in the 2017 Convenience Store News Foodservice Innovators Awards program. The retailer was honored in the Best New Foodservice Offering of the Year category in the sixth-annual Foodservice Innovators Awards program, presented in partnership with Tyson Convenience.
Foodservice Innovator of the Year winners are chosen by CSNews’ Foodservice Advisory Council, a panel of foodservice experts from the retailer, supplier, wholesaler, research and consulting fields. Winners are recognized for raising the bar on quality, service and innovation in the fast-growing and critically important foodservice category in the convenience channel.
Swiss Farms made its mark by combining the added speed and convenience of a drive-thru with staples and other items typically found in a grocery store, plus freshly prepared, restaurant-quality food. But the company hasn’t rested on its legacy. Since new President and CEO Scott Simon joined the retailer about a year and a half ago, the chain has been steadily improving its fresh food program.
With a commissary and test kitchen in the rear of its Milmont Park, Pa., store, Swiss Farms is able to self-distribute fresh products to its stores six days a week.
In the past year, Swiss Farms significantly enhanced its foodservice offering by launching a line of fresh-made breakfast sandwiches, a premium coffee line, and adding signature meals to its Fresh Solutions line of prepared-to-take-home meals.
The breakfast sandwich line features house-made sausage, pork roll and more, and includes a lean option of egg white, spinach and cheese on a multigrain English muffin.
As part of its effort to include a greater number of healthier food items, Swiss Farms hired a dietitian to curate better-for-you food choices and develop recipes using ingredients available at Swiss Farms.
“It’s fun to watch a small chain take their foodservice to a new level, offering fresh sandwiches and better-quality coffee. Plus, the drive-thru! Their sales will grow quickly,” one judge commented.
