In 1987, Phillyswirl cofounders, Alex Plotkin and Max Lapin were attending Penn State University. One day Alex was leaving his room in the dormitory, and the door hit another student in the head. The unfortunate student with a knot on his head was Max Lapin (opportunity knocks?).

     Upon graduation they enrolled at Widener University School of Law. Only a few months into their first year at law school, Alex was just fed up. He said to Max "Let's quit. Let's go sell

were approached by a cafeteria manager of a local High school to sell their product in her cafeteria.  The result was astounding!!!  The Florida Public School System quickly became PhillySwirl's largest account.

     The exposure that PhillySwirl products have received has made Max and Alex realize the importance of having GLUTEN FREE & PEANUT/TREE NUT FREE products. (Available now in

"Do any of your products contain peanuts or tree nuts?"  

     The two 28 year olds couldn't believe how thankful the parents were because their children were able to enjoy a store bought treat for the first time in their lives. However it was not until Alex's 4 week old son had a food allergy "scare" that truly opened their eyes.

     Alex's personal experience with his own son along with thousands of parents who showed so much appreciation have been

Italian ices in Florida." Max said, "What, are you crazy?"    

     PhillySwirl was founded in 1992, that's if you consider working out of a garage as being "founded".

     The original PhillySwirl products consisted of 26 different flavors of dairy free Italian ices and ice cream flavors. There were many ups and downs, however, in the summer of 1997 they got their first big break. That's when Max and Alex 

all Florida Public Schools, major grocery chains, and all Wal-Mart Supercenters).

     It started with a few calls from parents whose  kids are on a GLUTEN FREE and/or 

PEANUT/TREE NUT FREE diet, and the calls did not stop. The two most commonly asked questions were "My child has celiac disease, do any of your products contain wheat, barley, oats or rye?" and

an instrumental part in keeping PhillySwirl products GLUTEN & PEANUT/TREE NUT FREE!!!!

    In 2002 Max and Alex embarked on a program to give back to their community. Since PhillySwirl products began selling in the Public schools, Max and Alex have decided to show their gratitude by sponsoring, as well as coordinating, a scholarship/mentor program for Hillsborough County Schools in Tampa, Florida.

     They developed Tomorrow's Leaders, a student retention, 

 mentoring and monitoring system that challenges at-risk kids to do their best, to stay in school, and graduate.

    The program targets eighth grade students, tracks their progress throughout high school and then rewards and recognizes the students who graduate, with a two year prepaid Florida scholarship. As of 2003 PhillySwirl has donated over $50,000 to this charity.

     Our goal for 2004 is to recognize the need for safe products for the thousands of children with food allergies in the public and private school systems. This will also allow us to introduce out Tomorrow's Leaders Scholarship program to other states. We hope to encourage other companies to give back to their communities.

     Currently, our product line consists of four products which are very different from one another (shown on the right).

     The four are: Phudge Sundae Bars, Fruit N' Cream Bars, Phillyswirl (dairy free) Chillers, and PhillySwirl (dairy free) Stix. Two new products (ice cream sandwiches and

ice cream bars) are expected  to be launched in the spring of 2004.

    PhillySwirl products are sold at WAL-MART SUPERCENTERS, Costco, Publix, Winn Dixie, Food Lion and most major grocery chains in the U.S.

     Thank you for taking the time and reading a little about PhillySwirl and what we do (besides try to dream up new and exciting novelties for you).

     Please don't hesitate to call us toll free at 1-877-379-4757 with any ideas, questions, comments or email at alex@phillyswirl.com.

You make PhillySwirl possible and we will never forget it!

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Max and Alex