When: All year, by appointment
Who: All ages, but group size limited to ~10 people (bigger groups will have to take turns).
Cost: Free, but you may want to budget for a scoop ($5) at the end of the tour.
Who: All ages, but group size limited to ~10 people (bigger groups will have to take turns).
Cost: Free, but you may want to budget for a scoop ($5) at the end of the tour.
Have you ever wondered where homeschoolers get ideas for field trips? (OK, probably not). Standard places like museums, libraries and gardens are great places for homeschoolers, but there are wonderful options to be found just by looking around us.
In the case of Swensens, it was actually a SFGate article about its 75th anniversary (it was started 1948) that got us thinking. In the Bay Area, there are unfortunately few opportunities for factory tours - 510families has a nice article, but some amount of driving would be required from the Peninsula. On a whim, we emailed Swensens and were delighted when they agreed host our group!
Getting to Swensens was straightforward - because we were visiting mid-morning on a weekday, our families found free street parking on Hyde Street (yet another advantage of homeschooling - enjoying popular places without the crowds). The owners were ready and waiting to give us our tour.
We were taken to the back kitchen area, where we saw the waffle makers (for the cones), and the array of scents used to make their ice cream. Those, and the cartons of cream were reassurance that only simple ingredients were used (have you tried reading the label on the ice cream at grocery stores recently?).
 |
| Waffle cones are made in-house Photo credit: Jenny L |
Even the row of stamps hanging on the wall added to the charm.
 |
| A history of flavors Photo credit: Jenny L |
After the owners told us about the store history, a team member showed the machine which mixes the ice cream ingredients. This machine can be seen from the store window, and must be fun to watch and guess which flavor is being made.
 |
| Something crunchy and sweet is being made.. Photo credit: Jenny L |
The mixture is then brought to the back freezing room. The size and temperature of the room were fascinating to the kids.
 |
| The freezer room stays at -10F |
We were given samples of the newly mixed ice cream (good!) and Jim and Diane answered our questions:
Q: Who creates new flavors? How often do you make a new flavor?
A: Mostly Diane. It depends, if an existing flavor isn't doing well, we swap in a new one to try.
Q: Which flavor is most popular?
A: Hard to say for in-store, but to-go the Swiss Orange Chip sells best.
Q: What is the hardest part of running the business?
A: Employees - we like to hire young people, and train them. It can be challenging to build good habits and discipline, but they are necessary.
After the tour, most of us opted to stay and purchase a scoop of ice cream. Warning: it can be hard to decide which of their many flavors to go with! They are ready to offer samples though. We were thankful for Diane and Jim for sharing so generously of their time. I suspect more than one of us wishes Swensens had a store on the Peninsula, it looks to be a great place for our teens to work over summer and gain a strong work ethic as well (and. ice cream is always a plus!).
No comments:
Post a Comment