It’s our birthday, and we’re celebrating 48 years as a company with our best friends! We interviewed some long-term customers and employees to learn about their favorite products, why they continue to shop and work with us, and more. Learn more about Swanson from those who know us best:

Scott Trana, Facilities Manager, has been with Swanson for 36 years. He said the people are what make Swanson such a great place to work.

“Everyone helps each other out and works as a team,” he said.

Deanne Trieglaff, Online Correspondence Supervisor who has been with Swanson for 16 years, agrees that the people have made a big impact on her experience at Swanson.

“My best friends are here, and I met my husband here,” she said. “It’s also the effort that everyone puts in to create powerful products and experiences for the customers.”

Patty Hawkins, Print Marketing Supervisor who has been with Swanson for 31 years, said the flexibility has been the best thing for her.

“Being a single mom, there are times it can be quite difficult to balance work and family,” she said. “Swanson has provided me the ability to care for my family and still keep my work on schedule.”

Growth has been the main trend many have noticed since they started to work at Swanson.

“We went from a mom and pop production area with all employees helping to take and fill orders to an automated, high tech fulfillment center,” Trana said. “It still has a small, family feeling with people always willing to help out in any area when needed.”

“When I started at Swanson, we had 85 employees,” Hawkins added. “Now we are over 500. The growth of the company speaks for itself.”

“When I first started, it was basically mail order only,” said Josh Jorgenson, Director of Accounting/Controller who has been with Swanson for 18 years.

“Now we’ve made the transition to being large an e-commerce company. The facilities went from being in a small building in the industrial park in Fargo to this building with distribution centers in Pennsylvania and Nevada. The growth has been big.”

Trieglaff agreed that the importance and expansion of the website has been huge.

“In the beginning, the website was almost non-existent, and now it brings in the largest percentage of orders,” she said. “We had one person answering customer emails, and now we need a large team to do that.”

The work environment has helped inspire some of the employees to keep working for Swanson.

“The importance and emphasis on family and enabling people to have a healthy work/life balance,” Trana said. “I’ve been able to work, raise my kids and coach sports around their schedules.”

“Swanson has been a part of my life for over 30 years, and it has provided a living for my family as well as created friendships,” Hawkins added.

Jorgenson said Swanson has given him the chance to grow his career as the company itself has grown immensely over the years.

“We were a very small company, and we’ll continue to grow to be at the next level,” he said.

Most of the employees also mentioned that they appreciate that Swanson provides a gym and wellness program on site to help employees make better choices.

When asked why they would recommend Swanson to a friend, this is what the employees said:

“I recommend Swanson because we are focused on providing the highest quality products to fit any budget,” Trana said.

“We have amazing products for everyone, and we can fit any budget,” Hawkins said. “Swanson is passionate about offering the best quality products. I believe in the products we sell and would not hesitate to recommend them to a friend.”

“I definitely feel it’s a good company to work for, and we’re moving in a great direction,” Jorgenson said.

“It’s the teamwork environment,” Trieglaff said. “It really is a family-type of environment.”

But it’s not just employees that help make a difference at Swanson! We wouldn’t be where we are today without connections with great customers.

Sherri B., a Swanson customer since 2002, said she loves the prices, quality and ease of ordering.

“I love and my friends love that you can call and do one order for everything, and the one-stop-shop is a big hit,” she said.

She said Swanson has greatly impacted her life. Her favorite products to order are Soil-Based Organisms, Magnesium (Taurate) and Kidney Essentials.

“If I didn’t take vitamins, I would not look as good as I do,” she said. “I will be 61, and I don’t look like 61 at all, and I feel great!”

“Over the years, I have sent over 50 people to Swanson for so many reasons,” she added, including the low pricing and variety of products available from both Swanson and other brands.

Ray L., a Swanson customer since 1995, said he likes to spread the word about Swanson, their dedicated employees and outstanding products and services.

“Swanson’s universal connection to research data and products provides the customer with the most advanced products at very realistic costs,” he said. “[The] Swanson organization is a futuristic thinking and planning organization with integrity.”

Bryce K., a Swanson customer since 2004, said he’s always been focused on being health conscious, and Swanson is a good fit for him especially because of the quality.

“Because I’ve dealt with them, I know the quality is there and the cost as well,” he said.

Lou D., a Swanson customer since 1999, said he believes in vitamins, all the products he orders and the company in general.

“You have a full line of products so anything I need, I am sure I can get,” he said. “I haven’t had any bad advice from Swanson. It’s a complete company. I recommend you all the time and give my catalogs away.”

Elsie M., 92, is a Swanson customer who’s been taking supplements for more than 40 years. She started taking vitamins when she turned 50 when she learned her get-up-and-go wasn’t what it once was. Some of her favorite products are Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D, Vitamin D-3 2,000 IU, Vitamin E, Lutein and more.

“I feel I owe my good health to Swanson,” she said. “Also, I have very few days that I’m tired, and [when I do] that’s because I have really worked hard housecleaning or working in the yard. My Swanson vitamins keep me on top of everything. Thanks to Swanson, you have been a blessing to me.”

Thanks to these people and many more, we’re so proud of how far we’ve come and can’t wait to see where we can go from here. Happy birthday, Swanson!