Schlotterbeck & Foss Company

by Tammy Perry Olson

Business Beat, March 2005

There are many ways to measure the success of a business, and having satisfied customers for over a century certainly is one of them. However, no company stays in business for 139 years without adapting, and Schlotterbeck & Foss Company of Portland, Maine is no stranger to change.

The company began in 1866 when Augustus G. Schlotterbeck and Charles S. Foss teamed up to form a prescription apothecary shop. After operating four retail stores in the Portland area, Schlotterbeck & Foss began manufacturing patent medicines and flavoring extracts. When the company outgrew its locations, renowned architect John Calvin Stevens designed a five-story building to allow gravity to lend a hand to the manufacturing process. Although packaging technology has changed over the years, the manufacturing facility has not. The plant, built in 1927 on Preble Street in Portland, still uses gravity to make its products efficiently.

The company then evolved into a specialty food manufacturer. Customers brought their best recipes to Schlotterbeck & Foss, and the company’s talented staff modified the recipes for commercial production and packaged them for distribution. They also created new products from scratch.

Recently, the company has undergone another redevelopment. “Over the past year, we have focused our sales team to maximize efficiencies of line operation and product inventory,” said Jennifer Brissette of Schlotterbeck & Foss Company. Part of the plan included focusing their attention on their best-selling items while continuing to meet the needs of their loyal customers. One thing has remained consisted over the years—Schlotterbeck & Foss has never sacrificed the quality of a product in order to save time or money. Whether they were producing extracts or salad dressings, they remained efficient without cutting corners.

This summer, Schlotterbeck & Foss proudly will introduce their newly designed Wicked Good™ ice cream toppings. They use only the finest ingredients to make old family recipes, and these toppings promise to turn ordinary ice cream and baked goods into extraordinary treats. The Chocolate Fudge Topping combines the best Dutch cocoas and real cream with their own richly flavored vanilla extract. This extract, made with vanilla beans from Madagascar, is made by single-batch brewing.

Unlike some commercial toppings, their Butterscotch Topping is made with real butter to enhance everything from a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a slice of a favorite cake. No New England line of ice cream toppings would be complete without blueberries. Their Wild Maine Blueberry Topping is made from a family recipe as old as the company itself. In keeping with their pledge to use only the finest ingredients, Schlotterbeck & Foss makes this topping with locally grown blueberries. The topping can become a fine ingredient itself when baked into cakes or muffins.

In addition to their toppings, Schlotterbeck & Foss continues to offer their Mosness French Dressing and famous extracts for retail sale. They hope to add more products from their tried and true recipes, including fresh fruit salsas, smoky barbecue sauces, and fresh salad dressings.

The company, still a family-owned business, is owned and managed by a grandson of Charles Foss. When you can combine experience and flavor with a family-backed guarantee, there is no reason to settle for less than products backed by the Schlotterbeck & Foss name. “We are proud to be a HACCP certified, Kosher manufacturing facility, keeping time with manufacturing standards of operation to ensure our products remain of the highest quality,” Brissette said.

Schlotterbeck & Foss also has an extensive line of ice cream products available for wholesale purchases. “Schlotterbeck & Foss Company has been a benchmark of quality for over 50 years, and we look forward to growing with our ice cream partners in the years to come,” Brissette said. These products are available in a variety of packaging sizes and are available through local distributors. For more information, please call (207) 772-4666 or (800) 777-4666, email info@schlotterbeck-foss.com or visit their website at www.schlotterbeck-foss.com